DUIs and Drugs Dominate Missoula Crime This Week

The Missoula County Attorney’s Office charged 15 new criminal complaints this week. According to County Attorney Kirsten Pabst, four of those cases involved some form of violence.

“In one, a woman was charged with partner or family member assault for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend,” Pabst said. “In another, a defendant was charged for allegedly threatening to hurt some paramedics with a box cutter. He was charged with assault with a weapon. In another, the defendant allegedly attacked the victim in the detention facility. In the fourth one, the allegation is that the defendant assaulted some of his neighbors and was charged with aggravated burglary.”

Pabst said her office also charged three new endangerment cases.

“In one, the defendant was charged with their fourth or subsequent DUI,” Pabst said. “In another, the defendant was charged with negligent endangerment and criminal mischief. In that case, the defendant allegedly threw lit fireworks into the back of the victim’s truck where there were some gas cans.”

The other endangerment case involved a felony DUI and criminal endangerment.

“The allegation there is another high-speed chase in which the defendant is alleged to have blown through several stop signs and nearly hit another motorist,” Pabst said. “At one point, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a parked car. He also allegedly drove through a yard and crashed into a residence. Evidently, multiple people had to be evacuated from their homes due to a severed gas line.”

The remaining eight charges were all drug cases. Over 68 grams of meth were seized this week alone.