Alleged drive-by shooter pleads not guilty
WIETING
A Flathead Valley man who was implicated in a drive-by shooting that occurred on the west side of Kalispell four days before Christmas 2019 appeared in Flathead District Court Thursday.
Dray Scott Wieting, 19, of Kalispell, was arrested July 10, in Columbia Falls. He entered a plea of not guilty.
Wieting was wanted by the Kalispell Police Department for his alleged participation with three others in the shooting. He is being held on $251,625 bail in the Flathead County Detention Center, and is charged with two felony counts of assault with a weapon and three counts of felony criminal endangerment.
Wieting faces a maximum of 70 years in the Montana State Prison if convicted of all charges.
His pretrial hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 28. The jury trial is set for Nov. 30.
Wieting was the last of four people sought in the Dec. 21, 2019, shootings that left several homes on the west side of Kalispell riddled with bullets.
In the complaint against Wieting, a woman said he sold a gun to her friend in late December 2019. At the time, Wieting allegedly admitted to being involved in the drive-by shooting. The complaint also indicated Wieting’s statement was corroborated by social media records.
The woman also said she was at a party when she allegedly heard Wieting say he wasn’t stupid enough to let his shells go out of the car during the shooting.
Joseph Trapper Bukowski, 19, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the drive-by shooting June 4. Bukowski was previously scheduled to be sentenced Thursday, but it was rescheduled for Sept. 3 when one of his co-conspirators, Ansen Walter Ingraham, 18, will also be sentenced.
Bukowski pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal endangerment and assault with a weapon. Two counts of criminal endangerment and one for assault with a weapon were dismissed as part of the plea agreement Bukowski has with the state. He also remains in the Flathead County Detention Center on $250,000 bail.
Ingraham, who is also jailed on $250,000 bail, pleaded guilty July 9 to one count of assault with a weapon and one count of criminal endangerment. Three other felony charges were dismissed.
According to court documents, Ingraham reached a plea deal with the Flathead County Attorney’s Office June 26. The County Attorney recommended a 15-year sentence to the Montana State Prison for the assault with a weapon charge. For the endangerment charge, Ingraham is facing a 10-year suspended sentence, to be served consecutively.
On June 4, when Bukowski admitted guilt in the shooting, he said Wieting was present and fired shots at the residence during the alleged incident, according to the charging document.
Ingraham and Bukowski each initially pleaded not guilty Jan. 9 to several felony offenses.
Ingraham was arrested Dec. 23 at a home on West Cottonwood Drive in Evergreen and Bukowski was booked into jail Dec. 27 for their alleged roles in the Dec. 21 shooting that left at least three Kalispell homes riddled with bullet holes.
During a previous court hearing, Bukowski took the stand and admitted to driving the SUV involved in the crime. He also said he had a handgun, but didn’t fire it.
During the investigation, police learned Ingraham allegedly had threatened a person who lives in the targeted duplex on Seventh Avenue over an ongoing dispute, telling that person he would “get what was coming to him.”
According to court documents, Kalispell Police received a report of “shots fired” at 12:08 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, near a duplex on Seventh Avenue West in Kalispell. It was later reported that two other residences on Sunnyside Drive and Ashley Creek Lane were shot several times.
Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.