Man arrested after standoff pleads guilty to theft charge

The man arrested on theft and strangulation charges following a May 10 standoff in a Kalispell apartment complex that involved regional SWAT has changed his plea after striking a deal with prosecutors.

Aaron Martin McGarry, 35, pleaded guilty to theft in Flathead County District Court on July 8. As part of the agreement, prosecutors will recommend he spend three years in the Montana State Prison. Judge Robert Allison set sentencing for Sept. 1.

Authorities began searching for McGarry on May 9 following a disturbance call involving his significant other. According to court documents, McGarry pressed his arm against her neck during an argument in her car that day. She freed herself and got out of the vehicle. He then drove off with it, court documents said.

Authorities later found the vehicle, a Nissan Maxima, under a tarp on a property in Whitefish, according to court documents.

Working off of a tip, investigators tracked McGarry to the Sunridge Apartments complex off of Liberty Street. Owing in part to his criminal history, officials opted to call in the regional SWAT for the arrest.

In 2020, McGarry was sentenced on a criminal endangerment charge after allegedly using a stun gun on the mother of his children during an argument. As that case worked through the court system, McGarry allegedly threatened detention center officers.

McGarry was still under the partially suspended 10-year sentence with the state Department of Corrections when the roughly three-and-a-half hour standoff occurred. Were Allison to accept the terms of the agreement, McGarry’s three year stretch in state prison would run concurrent to the earlier sentence.

In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the strangulation charge.

During the July 8 hearing, Allison also gave McGarry’s significant other permission to visit with him prior to his departure to Montana State Prison.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.