Stalking suspect nabbed in Colorado
A Bigfork man entered general denials on Thursday to allegations that he broke terms of felony probation.
Severin Gislason, 20, allegedly cut off his GPS monitoring bracelet, dumped it into a toilet at Glacier Park International Airport, traveled to Colorado and was arrested within one mile of the home of a woman he is barred from being near because of a pending felony stalking case.
Gislason will go before Flathead District Judge David Ortley on June 30 to determine whether his felony probation for a 2014 burglary should be revoked.
Gislason was given a 10-year-deferred sentence and ordered to pay half the restitution to the businesses he and Shane Christensen, 19, burglarized in Bigfork in February 2014, causing more than $12,000 in damages.
Probation Officer Cameron Moe filed an initial petition to revoke the suspended sentence in January after Gislason allegedly lost his job, lived in Missoula without permission, and failed to make any payments toward restitution. Gislason additionally allegedly violated a restraining order.
On Sept. 8, 2014, Gislason was ordered not to have contact with a woman in Flathead County. The order is in effect for two years, but on June 21, 2015, the woman reported to Kalispell Police that she had repeatedly received text messages from Gislason. A detective spoke with Gislason that day and Gislason allegedly admitted the contact and said that he wanted to get arrested so he might get to see her in court.
Gislason also allegedly called the woman three times on June 19, five times on June 24 and one time on July 3.
He allegedly sent 21 text messages to the victim between June 20 and June 28. He allegedly used a phone application to disguise his number.
On July 14, Gislason was told to follow the court order. On Aug. 19, the woman reported that she had received more unwanted text messages from Gislason.
Gislason was arrested Dec. 18, 2015, for a felony stalking charge.
He was released from custody but arrested again on March 16 in Colorado, not long after his electronic location monitoring bracelet was found dumped in an airport toilet.
“He was found in another state and arrested only a mile from where the victim lived,” Moe wrote in a petition to revoke a suspended sentence.
Gislason was sentenced on March 20 to 20 days in Summit County, Colo., jail for a misdemeanor conviction of violating a restraining order. He arrived back in Flathead County on April 15.
Moe called Gislason’s conduct on probation “deplorable.”
Moe has recommended that Gislason be sent to Montana State Prison for 10 years if it is found that he violated probation.
Moe said the recommendation was “due to the serious nature of the offenses and the obvious lack of empathy and concern for the victim named in the protection order.”
Gislason’s stalking case is set for trial later this year. If convicted of stalking, Gislason faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.