Californian accused of indecent exposure, assault at local hotel

A California man was arrested and jailed on felony charges Monday after he allegedly exposed himself to a number of people and assaulted others at a local hotel.

Daniel Weston Morton, 57, is lodged in the Flathead County Detention Center on two felony counts of indecent exposure and two misdemeanor counts of assault.

According to the charging document, a hotel employee called 911 to report a man, later identified as Morton, running around the pool area naked and assaulting guests.

When an officer from Kalispell Police Department spoke to the employee, she said Morton used the pool and hot tub while naked. She confronted him and he allegedly shoved her into an ATM in the hotel lobby.

The officer also spoke to a man who was bleeding from the nose. The man said he was using the pool area with his grandchildren, ages 9 and 11, when he saw Morton enter the area and take off all his clothes. The grandfather said he confronted Morton and told him he was being inappropriate.

According to the court filing, Morton then exposed himself, began yelling to “look at his (profanity)” and asked if they liked what they saw. The grandfather said Morton punched him in the face and pushed him against the wall.

When a trio of officers went to Morton’s room, he allegedly asked if they were responding to what had happened earlier.

When Morton was taken to the jail he allegedly said he was from California and public nudity was not considered scandalous behavior.