Page 23 - Flathead Beacon // 4.22.15

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS APRIL 22, 2015 | 23 The Roundup
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FLATHEAD
PATROL IDENTIFIES VICTIM OF ATV CRASH
The Montana Highway Patrol has released the name of a 30-year-old Columbia Falls man who died in a weekend ATV crash near Eureka.
The patrol says Andrew Mahncke was driving a four-wheeler at a high rate of speed at about 2:40 a.m. on April 18 when he side-swiped another ATV. His ATV veered into a wooded area, where he collided with several trees.
Mahncke was wearing a helmet, but it was not strapped on. He died in the ambulance.
The driver and passenger of the other ATV were not injured.
Officials say the accident happened during the annual Koocanusa Fun Days events.
The crash is still under investigation and it hasn’t been determined if any charges will be filed.
KALISPELL MAN PLEADS GUILTY AFTER FAILED ROBBERY
Riley Landwehr said he was looking to score a few bucks for gas when he helped some friends rob a man they thought was a meth addict in the Kmart parking lot in Evergreen three months ago.
But the victim of the crime was no victim at all. He was an undercover cop and it turned out Landwehr and his friends were the targets of a Northwest Montana Drug Task Force sting.
On April 16, Landwehr, 19, pleaded guilty to felony criminal endangerment in Flathead County District Court. The change of plea hearing came three months after Landwehr pleaded not guilty to accountability to robbery following the Jan. 6 incident in Evergreen.
Landwehr was one of four teenagers arrested during the sting. Jacob Orion Sauls, 18, of Eureka, pleaded not guilty to felony robbery and Kellen McGarry, 19, of Whitefish, pleaded not guilty to accountability to robbery. An unidentified 14-year-old from Kalispell was also arrested after the incident and has been 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 online 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 defendant present. Moments later, other officers appeared and arrested the four teens without incident. When they searched the teens they found a loaded gun under Sauls’ belt.
During Thursday’s hearing, District Court Judge Robert Allison asked Landwehr why he tried to rob a cop.
“I was getting gas money out of the situation, so I guess greed was a factor,” he said.
“You do realize you’ve been sitting in jail since January because of a few bucks of gas money?” Allison said.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a 10-year suspended sentence to the Montana Department of Corrections. Landwehr will be back in court for sentencing on June 18.
ALBERTA MAN ARRESTED AFTEREUREKASHOOTING
An Alberta man was arrested after he allegedly shot two people in Eureka on April 15.
Both people were transferred to Kalispell Regional Medical Center where they are recovering from non- life threatening injuries, according to authorities.
Michael Ilk, 40, of Alberta, Canada, was charged with two counts of assault with a weapon, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. He is currently being held in the Lincoln County Detention Center in Libby.
According to the sheriff’s office, Eureka Dispatch received a 911 call from a 23-year-old woman shortly after 8 p.m. reporting that her ex-boyfriend had shot her and another man at the Eureka Hills Subdivision and that he was chasing them through town in a car. The woman gave a description of both vehicles and police were able to intercept them on U.S. Highway 93.
Officers tried to stop Ilk but he continued following the alleged victims who were driving toward the Eureka Law Enforcement Center. When the vehicles pulled into the law enforcement center parking lot, officers were able to order Ilk out of the vehicle and arrest him without incident.
The woman sustained two gunshot wounds, one to the leg and another to the arm. The male was also shot twice, once in the arm and again in the hand.
An investigation is ongoing.
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