Knife-wielding man given deferred sentence

A man accused of threatening a Kalispell resident with a knife in August earned a one-year deferred sentence in Flathead County District Court earlier this year.

Prosecutors initially brought Michael Allen Bacon, 33, up on a felony assault with a weapon charge following the alleged Aug. 27 confrontation. Although he maintained his innocence at his September arraignment before Judge Amy Eddy, he later took a plea deal. 

In exchange for Bacon pleading guilty to an amended charge of misdemeanor partner or family member assault, prosecutors agreed to recommend the one-year deferred sentence. He inked the agreement Jan. 2. 

Eddy handed down the deferred sentence that same day. She also required him to continue with chemical dependency treatment and undergo 40 hours of anger management counseling. 

Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies picked up Bacon after responding to a report of a man slicing through a woman’s screen door with a knife, according to court documents. The woman told investigators that Bacon told her that she “better watch her back,” court documents said. 

She suspected he was using drugs, court documents alleged. 

When deputies found Bacon near a trailer park not far from U.S. 93, they also allegedly recovered a knife matching the description given by the victim.

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