Law roundup: Resident takes cues from Bugs Bunny to ward off burglars

After several items went missing around a Kalispell area septuagenarian's home, she began to worry she had a cat burglar on her hands. She told deputies with the Flathead County Sheriff's Office that she lived alone and had trouble sleeping -- and the thought of an intruder wasn't making it any easier.

But she was ready to take matters into her own hands. It seemed to her that any burglar would have to come through her back door, so she was rigging the entryway with a shotgun, which would fire if anyone opened it up.

A budding Snapchat romance went sour after a local man exchanged inappropriate images with his love interest. The user of the other account began demanding compensation from the man, in the form of gift cards.

He paid up, but failed to satiate the blackmailers. He turned to the sheriff's office for help after they upped their demands. Deputies told the man it likely was a scam and recommended he alert the social media company.

The refusal to loan out a sweater sent a woman into "psycho mode," her friend told deputies. The friend had turned down a request to give the other woman the item of clothing because her children were already in bed for the night. At that, the other woman went "crazy," she said.

She told deputies she was worried the other woman would come over and cause a scene. That could lead to trouble with her landlord, she said.

A man armed with a gun, apparently "wigging out," walked into an area building. People already inside described him as potentially drunk or on drugs. While the man never pulled the gun out of its holster, he did grab at it.

The employee of a bank reported a man knocking on the financial institution's windows. He held a knife in one hand and was smoking a pipe. Despite the blade, which was described as a pocket knife or switchblade, the man did not appear threatening. The employee called back a short while later saying the man left after he was handed $20.

A possible love triangle ended with a smashed birdhouse. A man told deputies that after he "got close" to a woman, her ex-boyfriend came to his house and destroyed his birdhouse with a baseball bat. Now the woman was threatening to send her ex back to do the same to him. He was worried they would make good on the threat. As evidence, he said he kept the baseball bat.

Someone was stealing items from a homeowner's yard. He had never caught the thievery in the act, but a neighbor reported seeing people taking his property at various times.

A suspicious vehicle parked outside a Bigfork home left the resident feeling anxious. They asked deputies to check out the pickup truck. The resident worried that he might be under surveillance from the person in the truck.

A tenant planning to drop off items in a rented building was surprised to see someone run out of the structure upon his arrival. The person ran into a camper parked nearby, he told dispatchers. The building was supposed to be vacant.

Agreeing to lend an ear to someone on Instagram had landed a woman into a spot of trouble. She told law enforcement that she had agreed to talk with another woman about life through the social media platform. The other woman offered her money in exchange, which she initially took.

When she changed her mind, though, the other woman refused to take it back. Now the woman was sending her dark messages, including a note telling her she would be dead in the next 12 hours. She also reported receiving an email telling her that someone "wants you dead and I'm willing to do it for her."