Man pleads not guilty to threatening family, deputy

A Columbia Falls man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to threatening to shoot his family and a sheriff’s deputy on Dec. 17.

Stanley Hanson Jr., 49, was charged with two felony counts of assault and assault on an officer.

According to court documents, Hanson’s wife called 911 and said that she worried he might shoot their son, whom he was trying to evict. At one point dispatchers heard a woman on the line say “don’t point that thing at me,” before the line went dead.

Hanson said his gun was seconds from going off just before he began charging a deputy. Other law enforcement arrived and used a Taser to detain the man. The gun was loaded.

Hanson allegedly was visibly intoxicated at the time of his arrest.

He remains in the Flathead County Detention Center.