5 minute read
Courts
from 04-27-22 issue
Stories by Jeff Smith of Anderson Broadcasting for the Valley Journal
Lozeau to pay restitution
POLSON — The imposition of sentencing was deferred for a period of three years at District Court in Polson on April 20 for a Ronan woman convicted in a road rage incident. Anjelica Dawn Lozeau, 28, pleaded guilty to the amended charge of felony criminal endangerment on Feb. 9. She was initially charged with felony assault with a weapon for wielding a hatchet at another motorist.
According to court records, on Oct. 24, 2021, a woman called law enforcement to report she had just been rear-ended by another vehicle and was threatened by the driver of that vehicle with a hatchet. The woman told responding officers that she was driving down Polson Hill on U.S. Highway 93 when another motorists approached at a high rate of speed and hit her car. She said she pulled over to speak with the person driving the vehicle that struck hers. That’s when the other motorist, later identified as Lozeau, allegedly held a hatchet out her window and said, “I will kill you, you white bi***.” The woman reporting the incident said she was scared. Lozeau took off in her car but was followed by the alleged victim to an apartment complex in Polson. When police arrived at the apartment complex, Lozeau admitted to holding the hatchet and threatening the other driver. Police recovered a hatchet from Lozeau’s vehicle.
In addition to deferring the imposition of sentencing, Judge James Manley ordered Lozeau to pay restitution to the victim of $817.
Dodson pleads not guilty to possession
POLSON — A Washington state woman is accused of bringing large amounts of various types of drugs into Lake County for distribution. Melissa Jean Dodson, 37, entered a plea of not guilty at District court in Melissa Dodson Polson on April 20 to four felony counts of criminal possession with intent to distribute.
According to court records, on April 5, an employee at a Polson hotel called the Lake County Sheriff’s office to report “interesting behavior” from one of the hotel’s guests. The employee informed a responding deputy that a man appeared to be casing vehicles in the parking lot, wouldn’t make eye contact, was grinding his teeth and fidgety. The employee suspected the man may have taped up a smoke detector in the hotel’s laundry room and turned it into a “smoking lounge.” The strange man appeared to be associated with a certain room at the hotel. Checking on that room, the responding deputy spoke to a woman who identified herself as Cynthia Wilson. The hotel’s records show Cynthia Wilson as driving a gray Audi with Washington state license plates. The woman allowed the deputy into the room while she looked for her identification. The deputy observed drug paraphernalia in plain view inside the room. The woman then took the deputy to her car in hopes of finding her identification there. At the car, the deputy located a blue pill suspected to be fentanyl in the glove box. The woman was arrested for possession of drugs. On her way to jail, the woman admitted that her real name was Melissa Dodson. The deputy was able to obtain search warrants for both the car and hotel room. In the room the deputy located two large ziplock bags of methamphetamine, a digital scale with residue on it, a bag full of empty baggies, a black zipper bag of cash, another bag of cash and Washington state identification card for a Cynthia Wilson. The deputy also found a safe containing 500 fentanyl pills with the M-30 stamp, 17 grams of cocaine, 18 grams of heroin, and another identification card for Cynthia Wilson but with Melissa Dodson’s picture on it. The smoke detector in the room was taped up in the same fashion as the smoke detector in the laundry room.
Judge James Manley set the case for trial Sept. 19. Dodson remains in the Lake County jail with bail set at $200,000.
POLSON — A Columbia Falls man is accused of causing a wreck that could have seriously injured or killed other motorists. Christopher Ryan Hatleberg, 57, entered a plea of not guilty at District Court in Polson on April 20 to felony criminal endangerment.
According to court records, on Nov. 30, 2021, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Wayne Bieber responded to the scene of a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 93 at mile marker 84. Trooper Bieber determined that Hatleberg had attempted to pass two vehicles while traveling north uphill, around a corner, and in a no passing zone. Another vehicle appeared in the opposite lane of travel and was side swiped by Hatleberg’s vehicle, which sent Hatleberg’s vehicle spinning into the ditch of the southbound lane. The driver of the southbound vehicle was injured in the crash.
Judge James Manley set a trial date of Sept. 19. Hatleberg remains at liberty.
Christopher Hatleberg
Jones pleads not guilty to burglary
POLSON — A Polson man is accused of breaking into another man’s home before he was assaulted for entering said home. Jay Joseph Jones, 32, entered a plea of not guilty at District Court in Polson on April 20 to felony burglary.
According to court records, on Oct. 14, 2021, staff at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson contacted Polson Police to report that they were treating the victim of an assault for a knife wound. Two Polson Officers arrived to find Jones being treated for “stab wounds.” A third party had brought Jones to the hospital. Jones refused to answer questions, but the third party had given the officers the name of the person who lives at the residence where the alleged stabbing had occurred. That person, R.A., told police that Jones kicked in his front door and came after him because R.A. had intervened in an altercation Jones was involved in earlier. R.A. told police that he armed himself with a knife to defend himself. Jones was cut when he tried to grab the knife away from R.A. The officers observed the front door to R.A.’s residence had been kicked in and there were droplets of blood scattered about. Jones continued to refuse to say what happened, and was subsequently charged with burglary for breaking into R.A.’s residence with the intent to assault R.A.
Judge James Manley set a trial date of Sept. 19. Jones remains at liberty.
