Veteran shot by police sues city, county

A Kalispell war veteran who was shot by Kalispell Police Department officers inside his home more than two years ago recently sued the city of Kalispell and Flathead County, along with Kalispell Police Officers Chad Zimmerman and Eric Brinton, and Sheriff’s Deputies Geno Cook and Kipp Tkachyk.

Ryan Pengelly, 31, was shot four times by Zimmerman and Brinton during an armed confrontation Jan. 12, 2016 as they attempted to take his mother, Bonnie, into custody at their residence on Looking Glass Avenue.

Five months later, a felony charge of assault on a peace officer against Pengelly was dismissed with prejudice by Flathead District Court Judge Amy Eddy, despite the fact the Sheriff’s Office ruled the shooting justified.

At the time, Peter Leander, Pengelly’s attorney, successfully argued that police officers didn’t give him enough time to react to an order to drop his weapon before shooting him.

Leander said the shots were fired almost simultaneously with the order to drop the gun and that the officers did not announce themselves as police.

The home where the shooting occurred was built by the nonprofit organization Operation Finally Home in 2012 and 2013.

The project provides mortgage-free American-made homes to disabled veterans. At the time, Pengelly — a decorated Army veteran who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan — had lost his home and military service medals in a Whitefish area house fire. He suffered a traumatic brain injury from a bomb blast in Iraq in 2008.

Leander said much of what went into the dismissal involved Pengelly’s personal history, including the brain injury.

The lawsuit alleges that Kalispell police officers entered the home without an arrest warrant for Pengelly’s mother, Bonnie, who had well-documented mental-health issues. According to court documents, Brinton, who had been in law enforcement less than two years, received information that Bonnie was threatening to do harm to herself or her “daughter-in-law.” When he spoke to Bonnie’s supervisor at work, she said the threat wasn’t imminent, but she “just wanted the police to look into it.”

According to the complaint, one of Bonnie’s co-workers told Brinton her son owned military-grade weapons. It also claims Brinton told Zimmerman he intended to arrest Pengelly’s mother, despite Zimmerman allegedly saying “99.9 percent of the time” these reports are “just someone running their mouth.”

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges when Zimmerman and Brinton arrived at Pengelly’s residence and spoke with his mother, they didn’t identify themselves as police officers, why they were there and didn’t turn on their audio recorders.

It also alleges when Pengelly heard the commotion, he came out of his bedroom with a rifle, and that Brinton said he heard Zimmerman yell something and heard his gun fire several times. Brinton allegedly fired several times at Pengelly when Zimmerman stopped shooting.

The suit said Pengelly was shot four times with .45-caliber, hollow-point bullets and he suffered a severed pancreas and liver and several internal organs were “severely traumatized.”

Cook and Tkachyk are named as defendants in the lawsuit for allegedly disregarding the urgings of Pengelly’s sister and girlfriend that he was in no medical condition to be interviewed. It also claims the officers didn’t check with medical staff to determine whether Pengelly’s participation in the interview would be dangerous or life-threatening, as well as whether he was able to understand his legal rights.

Pengelly was hooked up to several medical support systems, according to the lawsuit, which also notes Pengelly has “undergone hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of medical treatments and has suffered significant, prolonged, physical pain and suffering and emotional distress from being shot four times.”

The complaint claims the actions of the law enforcement officers violated the Montana Constitution for a warrantless entry, use of excessive force, malicious prosecution and violation of state constitutional rights.

Pengelly is seeking compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial for past and future lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering, disruption to his life and emotional distress. It also seeks punitive damages as well as attorney fees.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 406-758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.