Law roundup: Worker suffers ill-fated discharge in restroom

A worker in Columbia Falls suffered an explosive experience in the restroom after his gun went off in the lavatory. No one was injured and the firing was described as accidental. The worker cleared the gun and left it behind the business’ desk after alerting the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office to the unfortunate discharge.

Someone apparently took the time to log onto the state Motor Vehicle Division’s website and renewed another person’s driver’s license. The original holder of the license told deputies that the action left his version of the ID canceled and they had changed his donor status. Workers at the Motor Vehicle Division were not being particularly helpful in getting to the bottom of the situation, he said. 

Finding the flap to her car’s gas tank missing, a Kalispell woman worried that someone had intentionally tampered with her vehicle. She told deputies she had an ongoing disagreement with her neighbor.

Dispatchers picked up a phone call that was mostly yelling and someone shouting, “Get away from me.” They later learned that a man was smashing someone’s vehicle with a bottle. 

Deputies headed to Bigfork for a report of teenagers tearing through the community’s downtown area. The group of speedsters were driving in circles. 

A suspicious vehicle pulled into the driveway of a Kila home. It pulled out after the homeowner hit the outside lights, but remained parked in the area. It later departed for good.

Someone walked into a building without the proper identification and was told to leave, the employee of a Kalispell business told deputies. They suspected people were dealing drugs in the front of the building. 

A woman accused her neighbors of breaking into her house via the dog door. 

A Kalispell resident discovered that thieves had struck his home, making off with personal property both inside and out of the house. 

A neighbor shot the dog of a Kalispell resident, hitting the Labrador retriever in a paw. The dog’s owner told dispatchers that he lacked the funds to take the animal to an animal hospital. The retriever would “have to tough it out,” he said. 

A Whitefish resident asked to make a report about a dog that attacked her pet several days prior. 

Finding their sliding glass door busted, a Bigfork resident asked the Sheriff’s Office to investigate. 

Another Bigfork resident discovered that his windows were cracked. He was unsure of how it happened, telling dispatchers he must have slept through it. 

A third Bigfork resident invited authorities over to take a look at his front and rear doors. Both were broken. 

A Kalispell resident’s ex-boyfriend was back. He was banging on the door, trying to get inside. 

Two guns were stolen from a vehicle in Lakeside.

The presence of some “lowlife people” hanging out in an alley and talking loudly irked a Kalispell resident.