C-Falls man charged with meth, theft, bailjumping
A 20-year-old Columbia Falls man has reached a plea agreement after facing two separate methamphetamine charges, an accountability to burglary charge, a theft charge and a bailjumping charge.
Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht accepted the deal for David Bollman on March 19. Bollman pleaded guilty to the first meth charge and the theft charge, and the others were dismissed.
The plea deal recommends a total of 10 years with the Department of Corrections, all suspended, and restitution for the theft of $5,000. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 11.
According to court records, Bollman was arrested on Jan. 2, 2014 after he was found hiding in the attic of a friend’s house. Deputies allegedly found a snort tube, seven plastic baggies containing meth and a glass pipe nearby in the attic insulation.
Deputies had served a search warrant on the house after a man on Toftum Lane reported someone had broken into his house and taken a 9 mm handgun, a big-screen television, silver bars and jewelry.
The man told deputies he suspected his daughter’s ex-boyfriend, Dakota Bone, was involved. When questioned, Bone allegedly said a friend, Tylin Bates, had asked about a “house to hit,” and Bone had told him about the Toftum Lane house. Bone also allegedly said that he, Bates and Bollman stole the items from the house. Bollman was subsequently charged with accountability to burglary.
A second case turned up when Bollman was arrested. A man in Columbia Falls earlier had reported a missing jacket containing $5,000, what was left from an insurance settlement. The man said Bollman had been in his house the previous night. Bollman allegedly admitted to stealing the jacket and money while being interviewed about the drug and burglary case.
Bollman picked up another meth charge while released on his own recognizance. Columbia Falls police officers had responded to an apartment on Fourth Avenue West after a landlord reportedly evicted a female tenant and then found Bollman and another man in the apartment. A search of Bollman allegedly turned up a glass pipe and a small amount of meth.
Bollman also allegedly failed to turn up for two arraignments while released. A petition to revoke his release was filed on May 7, 2014, and Judge David Ortley issued a bench warrant with a $50,000 bond. One week later, with Bollman in the county jail, Judge Ulbricht denied his request for a bond reduction.
A psychological evaluation conducted in June 2014 allegedly concluded that Bollman was not competent to proceed and should be committed to a state mental health facility. On July 9, 2014, Judge Ortley agreed and ordered Bollman to an appropriate facility.
When Bollman returned to the Flathead in October, Ortley agreed to release him to formal house arrest with his grandparents in Columbia Falls. Bollman was ordered to wear a SCRAM device.