A Flathead County man has denied allegations that he kicked his girlfriend, rupturing her spleen, before shooting at her with a shotgun as she fled the scene.
Elijiah Norman Weller pleaded not guilty to one count of felony assault and two counts of assault with a weapon in Flathead County District Court on Oct. 2.
According to court documents, early on the morning of July 4, Weller attacked his girlfriend in their shared home on Poplar Drive near Kalispell. Weller reportedly grabbed her by the hair and threw her on the ground before kicking her on her left side so hard that she “felt something happen inside her body.”
The woman was able to get up and walk outside where she met three friends. She got into one of her friend’s vehicles, and as they drove away Weller fired a shotgun toward them, according to court records. The woman was taken to North Valley Hospital in Whitefish where doctors discovered that her spleen had ruptured and that she needed an emergency operation to remove it.
Weller was previously charged with two counts of felony arson earlier this summer after he allegedly torched a man’s front door on July 17 and then a parked vehicle in downtown Kalispell on July 18. Weller has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
If convicted of aggravated assault or assault with a weapon, Weller could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $50,000.