A man who was shot by two police officers in his own home in January 2016 has filed a lawsuit against four local law enforcement officers, the City of Kalispell and Flathead County.
Ryan Pengelly filed the lawsuit earlier this month against Kalispell Police Officers Chad Zimmerman and Eric Brinton, Flathead County Sheriff’s Deputies Kipp Tkachyk and Geno Cook, the City of Kalispell and Flathead County. The suit comes nearly three years after Pengelly, a veteran who had completed three tours overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, was shot inside his own home while Kalispell officers were trying to arrest his mother.
Pengelly, 33, is seeking damages to compensate him for lost wages, emotional distress and hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Pengelly’s attorneys argue that the officers violated their client’s constitutional rights to protect his family and property when officers shot him. The suit accuses the officers of using excessive force and not giving him enough time to drop his weapon when he confronted the officers.
“Ryan woke up to his mother screaming his name and two men yelling and banging around,” the lawsuit reads. “In response, he did what Montanans have a right to do, he grabbed his rifle and went to his mother’s aid. For that simple act of defense of his home and family, Ryan was shot multiple times, and then charged with a felony.”
According to court documents, two Kalispell police officers, later identified as Zimmerman and Brinton, were dispatched to Pengelly’s home northwest of Kalispell on Jan. 12, 2016 after receiving a report of a suicidal woman. After talking to the woman, identified as Bonnie Pengelly, the officers attempted to get her to go to the hospital with them. When she retreated into the house, one of the officers grabbed her arm and the woman called for her son. Pengelly had been sleeping in a back room, heard the commotion in the living room and emerged with a loaded rifle. He allegedly pointed the weapon at the two officers. The officers told Pengelly to drop the gun, and when he did not lower it immediately they opened fire, striking him at least four times.
According to the lawsuit, after being shot, Pengelly said, “I mean you no harm.”
Brinton later told investigators that he had heard Zimmerman yell something and fire his weapon. Brinton said it took place “so fast,” according to the lawsuit. Brinton also started firing his weapon at Pengelly.
Pengelly survived the shooting and was later charged with felony assault on a peace officer. That charge was later dropped when Pengelly’s attorney presented evidence that the man had not been given enough time to drop his weapon and that his visual and mental reaction time is slower than other people because of injuries he sustained while serving in the military.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office investigated the shooting and later cleared the two officers of any wrongdoing. That same investigation eventually led to the charge against Pengelly that was later dropped.
But attorneys for Pengelly allege it was a flawed investigation, mostly because the deputies interviewed the defendant in the hospital while he was in a state of “medically induced delirium.”
“Without any apparent attempt to investigate, discern or consider Ryan’s critical medical condition, the deputies entered his hospital room to extract a statement from him, which they knew to be of extreme importance and could result in the filing of criminal charges against him,” the suit states. “Nowhere is there any indication that they checked with the medical staff to determine whether participation in this type of interrogation could be dangerous or even life-threatening. Nor is there any indication that they made any attempt to determine his cognitive abilities at the time of the interview.”
The city and county are named as defendants in the suit because, according to Pengelly’s attorneys, it was their duty to properly train the officers.
Earlier this year, Pengelly was accused of pointing a gun at a woman during a disagreement at Wayfarers State Park. He pleaded not guilty to a single charge of felony assault with a weapon and is expected to stand trial next year.