A 39-year-old Libby man has been charged with two counts of stalking and one count of violating an order of protection after he told authorities he was going to “blow up” a state representative’s home.
Dustin James Rounsville pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor stalking and misdemeanor violating an order of protection in Lincoln County District Court on July 18. The arraignment came a month after he left State Rep. Jerry Bennett numerous threatening messages and stared him down at a local bank.
According to the police report, Bennett reported Rounsville to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office on June 14. The Republican state representative told law enforcement that Rounsville had left numerous threatening messages, including one stating, “Your house is going to blow up with dynamite.”
Authorities later met with Rounsville and he told them he wouldn’t stop threatening Bennett until he got his “revenge.”
Bennett filed an order of protection against Rounsville. On June 16, Rounsville went to a bank in Libby and did not leave when he found that Bennett was already there. Bennett told law enforcement that Rounsville stared him down the entire time at the bank.
On June 21, Rounsville left another message on Bennett’s phone and said, “I’m going to blast you hard, right in the [explicative] nose.”
The following day, Rounsville was placed under arrest on charges of stalking and violating an order of protection. If convicted, Rounsville could face up to five years in prison. Rounsville remains incarcerated at the Lincoln County Jail.