Columbia Falls man arrested after standoff

Deputies who responded to a cabin on Jellison Road on July 31 arrested a 31-year-old Columbia Falls man after a four-hour standoff.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office was notified by a neighbor who reported seeing a suspicious man at an unoccupied cabin.

Two vehicles parked at the residence were reportedly stolen in Columbia Falls within the past few days. One had been stolen from inside the Western Building Center property in Columbia Falls. The thief had rammed the vehicle through the chain-link fence, damaging the front grill and headlights.

The Jellison Road cabin was locked when a deputy arrived, and repeated attempts to get a man inside to answer the door were unsuccessful. Law officers contacted the cabin’s owner, and he told them no one had permission to be there and that he didn’t know who the man was.

When deputies got a key and opened the door, the man told them he had a gun. A perimeter was established around the cabin and the Flathead County SWAT team and negotiators responded.

Negotiations continued for four hours before the man surrendered. Mitchell Lewis Anderson, 31, was arrested without incident and charged with felony counts of theft of a motor vehicle and burglary. No weapon was found inside the cabin.

Flathead County sheriff Chuck Curry said the man was not booked but instead was transported to a facility that deals with mental health treatment.