Burglary case dismissed after suspect deemed unfit
Gary Leroy Bradford. (Photo courtesy the Flathead County Sheriff's Office)
A Flathead County District Court judge earlier this year dismissed a felony case against a man accused of breaking into his son's Kalispell-area business in 2023.
Prosecutors brought Gary Leroy Bradford up on one felony count of burglary after the 79-year-old allegedly made off with a checkbook, rent check and a .38 caliber revolver in an Oct. 4 break-in on Rocky Cliff Drive. Bradford's son phoned in the burglary and provided deputies with the Flathead County Sheriff's Office with surveillance footage, according to court documents.
The video captured Bradford walking from his property to the business and captured him taking items inside, court documents alleged.
The 79-year-old allegedly acknowledged possibly going inside his son's business when investigators stopped by his home to speak with him. A search of his house turned up the checkbook, but not the revolver or rent check, court documents said.
In December 2023, Bradford's defense attorney asked that he be evaluated by a mental health professional. Judge Heidi Ulbricht, who presided over the case, ordered him to the Montana State Hospital on Dec. 7.
Bradford was deemed unfit to proceed in May 2024. Prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the case the following month.
Ulbricht ordered it dismissed on June 11.
News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.