Cold snap raises concerns for community

Someone requested a welfare check from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office for a woman south of a U.S. 93 intersection in Kalispell who was reportedly begging for a ride. The person thought the woman was acting strange when she supposedly was whipping around and throwing her arms up toward cars. Officers were unable to locate the flailing woman.

A later call came in from someone else concerned about the cold and a family with small children seen stumbling alongside the road away from a stranded vehicle. The person calling reportedly said that by the time they turned around, the family was gone. Officers were able to locate the vehicle, but didn’t see anyone around.

Another call came in from Shelter Valley Drive in Kalispell where a man told deputies a vehicle was in the ditch on Foys Canyon Road and he was running home to get help. He reportedly kept saying he didn’t think he was going to make it and was not dressed for the weather. He left the vehicle because he wasn’t getting cell service and his wife was waiting in the vehicle. She reportedly also left the vehicle, was found and dropped off at home.

Someone on Corporate Drive in Kalispell told deputies that a truck with a camper shell was spinning brodies and allegedly almost hit them.

Someone on Yeoman Hall Road in Kalispell said three people on snow bikes in the area were purportedly being really loud and crossed their property to get to a lake. The person was most concerned with the noise.

A Bigfork man purportedly told officers he was calling about his “nemesis across the street.” The man requested extra patrol because he thought they were “going to make a move against him.”

An employee on U.S. 2 in Columbia Falls told deputies she reportedly had security video footage of a guest stealing items out of another guest’s vehicle. She was advised to have the victim call and report the theft.

A train stopped near Dalimata Street because a woman on board was allegedly attacking passengers, but no one was injured at the time it was called into law enforcement. The woman may have been on drugs and supposedly drank a bottle of whiskey.

A beat-up looking minivan containing a man and a woman allegedly pulled up to a vehicle and the man told a person in the vehicle he needed to get “their a---- home.” The man also reportedly told the driver “they didn’t want to mess with him” as he reached into a bag. The person in the vehicle suspected the man was intoxicated because he slurred his words. Kalispell Police Department followed the vehicle, but did not observe any indicators of impairment. Parties involved did not want to pursue an investigation.

Someone alleged a child was left unattended in a vehicle parked in a U.S. 93 lot for at least 20 minutes and claimed that the vehicle was not running and their car thermometer said five degrees.

A woman was concerned that her ex reportedly got a key to her apartment after she changed the locks and he walked into her house.

A man told police that his truck was supposedly stolen after he left it on and went into a store. Police discerned the vehicle was inoperable and the man intoxicated. He was dropped off at his residence, but purportedly insisted someone tampered with his vehicle. Store management said they would check security footage for any criminal mischief.