Man wielding gun who was shot by police is upset by felony charge

Five bullet holes hurt enough for Ryan Pengelly; it hurts even more now that he’s been charged with a felony.

The decorated Army veteran said he feels having his home and body peppered with gunshots during a Jan. 12 confrontation with Kalispell Police was a high enough price to pay for what he calls a misunderstanding.

“It hurts me really bad that now I’m being branded as a criminal,” Pengelly said.

On the other hand, Pengelly said he thinks his mother should be criminally charged for her role in the conflict that ended with him, rifle in hand, being shot numerous times. It was her loud resistance of the police that led to Pengelly’s own confrontation with officers.

Pengelly, 30, posted $10,000 bond for a felony charge of assault on a peace officer, but he was unhappy about having to do so. He had no idea he was being charged until he read it in the newspaper.

Pengelly served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan before a bomb blast sent him home with a traumatic brain injury. He cannot ever recall being in trouble with the law before, not even for a speeding ticket.

“I’m not a criminal and I never will be,” Pengelly said. “I just won’t. That’s the way I choose to be.”

Pengelly was shot by two Kalispell Police officers who responded to a call at 145 Looking Glass Ave. in west Kalispell. The officers visited the home looking for his mother, Bonnie Pengelly, 46, who had been reported as possibly homicidal and suicidal.

Bonnie Pengelly became combative with police and was screaming and resisting officers in the moments before the shooting, according to news releases from the police department.

Ryan Pengelly, who had been asleep, emerged from a bedroom with a rifle. According to an investigation by the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, he pointed the gun at one of the officers.

According to a press release, Ryan Pengelly told investigators: “He said put the rifle down, but he didn’t give me enough time to do so, and that’s probably what I did wrong, I pointed the rifle at him; it was wrong.”

Reflecting later at his home, Pengelly stresses the weight of the other statement he made that was included in the press release: “If I would have known it was a police officer, I would have put it down immediately.”

Pengelly has been advised by his attorney not to comment on what exactly happened that day because of the pending felony charge, but he said he has been unhappy with the information released in the case.

“I was totally slandered,” Pengelly said. “They made it look like I was the bad guy. They said I purposefully came out and tried to hurt them. I didn’t know they were police.”

Ryan firmly believes his mother should face some sort of punishment for the incident.

“My mother was the cause of this,” he said. “I do believe she needs to be charged.”

As of Friday, no charges had been filed against Bonnie Pengelly.

“I can’t really comment on anything else regarding the case or investigation,” Flathead County Deputy Attorney Stacey Boman said.

She also declined to comment on the reason Ryan Pengelly was charged.

Public defender Brent Getty said he is still in the early stages of reviewing the case.

“We will look at any and all defenses available to Mr. Pengelly,” Getty said.

In the meantime, Pengelly and his girlfriend, Melissa Pleasant, 24, have a two-year order of protection barring Bonnie Pengelly from contacting them. In her filing for the order of protection, Pleasant wrote that law enforcement reported that before the shooting Bonnie Pengelly told coworkers that she intended to shoot Pleasant and kill herself.

According to Kalispell Police logs, the couple reported last week that Bonnie Pengelly had allegedly broken the no-contact order by calling their home on Wednesday. Police logged a report.

AS PENGELLY waits for his Feb. 25 arraignment date, he is focused on recovery.

He was hit four times, according to the police.

He counts five bullet holes in his body – one in the face, one in the leg, two in the stomach and one in the rear. Chunks of his pancreas and liver are missing. He has had three surgeries and has been told that there’s at least one more left.

He could barely stand and walk a few steps without painfully grimacing on Tuesday. He and the other household members are trying hard to recover, but it has been an uphill road for everyone who was home that day.

His 5-year-old cat Bella runs and hides whenever someone comes and knocks on the door. James Malley, a roommate who was at the home during the Jan. 12 incident, gets jumpy when he hears loud noises that sound like gunfire.

A window is still cracked from a bullet striking it. There is a bump in the floor caused by a bullet. Four other bullet holes on a wall inches below a portrait of Ryan during his military service have been plastered over.

IN ADDITION to the emotional toll from the incident itself, the friends say they are not as trusting as they were of law enforcement or even some of their neighbors.

Pengelly was disappointed that one of his neighbors sent to a local television station a photo of him being rolled out on a stretcher.

“I felt pretty violated that they took pictures of me on the stretcher,” Pengelly said.

Pengelly said he does believe that officers should be equipped with audio and visual recording devices that are activated at all times. The officers who shot Pengelly had audio equipment available, but had not activated it at the time of the shooting. The Kalispell Police Department does not have body cameras.

“They should always have their cameras on,” Pengelly said. “It keeps your police officers honest and safe as well.”

KALISPELL Police Chief Roger Nasset has said that he is not completely opposed to body cameras for officers, but that he would like to see the Legislature or another higher authority set some sort of guidelines for how the cameras can be used.

Pengelly has no idea when he will be able to return to work.

At the time of the shooting, he was a taxi driver set to head off to truck driver training at the end of January. That plan was toppled by his gunshot wounds.

HE IS GRATEFUL that he has a mortgage-free home provided by nonprofit Operation Finally Home in 2013. The program provides homes for disabled veterans. His previous home had been lost in a house fire. However, not being able to work makes it difficult for him to pay mounting medical bills and property taxes. Pleasant has a part-time job but has to spend much of her time caring for Pengelly.

She is happy with how upbeat he has been about getting back on his feet, despite the challenges.

“He’s a goofball,” she said of Pengelly’s normal demeanor. “The shooting took away some of his smile, but he still tries to find the positive.”

PENGELLY said he might put out a “comrade in distress” call to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars group for help, though he hasn’t decided yet. The distress call essentially asks veterans to help other veterans in need.

More than anything, he hopes to move forward without a felony mark on his record, which would greatly impact his job options.

“If I’m being charged with something and it goes through, it will destroy me,” Ryan said.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.