Three of the four teens arrested earlier this month for allegedly robbing a police officer at gunpoint appeared in Flathead County District Court on Jan. 22.
Jacob Orion Sauls, 18, of Eureka, pleaded guilty to robbery, and Kellen McGarry, 19, of Whitefish, and Riley Landwehr, 19, of Kalispell, both pleaded not guilty to accountability to robbery. All three charges are felonies.
A fourth teenager, a 14-year-old from Kalispell, was also arrested after the incident and will be charged in juvenile court.
According to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, a Northwest Montana Drug Task Force agent responded to a Craigslist ad implying that the advertiser had methamphetamine for sale. The agent arranged to meet with the man who placed the ad at the Kmart parking lot in Evergreen at 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 6.
When the undercover agent arrived, Sauls and McGarry got into the vehicle, according to court records. Sauls told the officer that he needed the money before he could go get the methamphetamine, but the officer refused. Sauls then reached into his waistband and stated this was a “rip” and that he was robbing the agent, according to prosecutors.
The officer, fearful for his life, handed Sauls the money and Sauls and McGarry got into a vehicle driven by Landwehr and with the 14-year-old present. Moments later, other officers appeared and arrested the four teens without incident. When the searched the teens they found a loaded gun under Sauls’ belt.
If convicted of robbery or accountability to robber, the three teens could face fines of up to $50,000 and anywhere from two to 40 years in prison.
All three teens are set to go to trial in June.