courts Stories by Jeff Smith of Anderson Broadcasting for the Valley Journal
Polson man pleads guilty to strangulation, protective order violation POLSON — A Polson man has admitted to his part in strangling a woman through the rear window of a pickup last June as well as other charges involving her. Morgan Aniba Quinones Velazquez, 48, entered a guilty plea at District Court in Polson on Sept. 22 to misdemeanor violation of a protection order, felony violation of a protection order and felony strangulation of a partner or family member. The guilty pleas came as part of an agreement that will dismiss at sentencing felony counts of violation of a
COVID surge from page 6
Complicating matters further, the highly contagious Delta variant appears to be hitting younger people much harder than its predecessor. The latest case count for Lake County from the Department of Health and Human Services, posted Friday, tallied 31 new cases in ages 40 and under out of a total of 46; 19 were under 20. “We have been seeing younger patients that don’t have chronic underlying conditions come down with serious cases of COVID,” says Byers. Huntley echoed that observation, saying he’s
protection order, felony criminal endangerment and misdemeanor criminal destruction of or tampering with a communications device. The agreement does not include a sentence recommendation, meaning the judge can hand down the maximum sentence. In this case the maximum amounts to seven and a half years incarceration, according to prosecutor Molly Owen with the Lake County Attorney’s office. According to court records, on June 14, 2020, a woman called 911 to report Velazquez had run her off the road and
also seen more positive cases in younger patients. Although the CDC is still gathering and analyzing data, statistics from earlier this month demonstrate “the overall case number has been increasing in younger populations, and that this Delta variant is far more contagious than what we’ve experienced last year.” He also notes that people who have been vaccinated are still getting COVID. “I can tell you this, however, the people that are vaccinated that are contracting the virus are far less acutely ill than those that haven’t been vaccinated.” These observations concur with CDC data,
into a ditch. The woman told a responding Lake County Sheriff ’s deputy that she was on her way to work when Velazquez approached her from the opposite direction in another vehicle and tried to run her off the road. After some more evasive action was taken by the victim, she was eventually forced to stop her vehicle. Velazquez was able to access the bed of her truck by stepping onto the running boards. He got into the cab of the truck through a sliding rear window. The woman states that’s when Velazquez
released in late August, showing that unvaccinated people are almost 5 times more likely to be infected with COVID 19 than their vaccinated counterparts, and 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID than those who are fully vaccinated. In Montana, 1,095 people were hospitalized with COVID between July 17 and Sept. 10. Of those, 83% were unvaccinated; and of the 130 COVID-related deaths that occurred during that period, 73% were unvaccinated. This research backs up the plea made by healthcare providers and infectious disease experts since last spring for people to
wrapped his arms around her neck and began choking her causing her to drive into the ditch. She says she tried to call 911 from her mobile phone but Velazquez grabbed it out of her hands and threw it down. She was able to get out of the truck and run to a witness for help and make the 911 call. Quinones Velazquez was already facing the three counts of violation of an order of protection prior to the June 14, 2020 incident. Judge James Manley set sentencing for Nov. 11.
get vaccinated and adhere to measures recommended by the CDC: mask up indoors and practice hand hygiene and social distancing. Despite all the obstacles facing healthcare workers these days, Huntley sees some silver linings. Among them, “cooperation and collab-
Valley Journal
Columbia Falls woman ordered to pay over $78K in restitution POLSON — A Columbia Falls woman has been ordered to pay restitution totaling $78,824.21 for her participation in possessing items she knew were stolen from storage units in the Condon Area. Sierra Kay Fischer, 28, was convicted for crimes involving co-defendants Eugene Thomas Germain, 27; Brandon Tollie, 26, of Woods Bay; Mitchell Bear Raymond,
oration between all of the healthcare providers in Lake County is without a doubt at an all-time high.” He also believes his staff has risen to the challenges, “helping each other in ways I never imagined possible.” That teamwork helped earn St. Joseph the Leadership
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in Quality and Safety Award from the Montana Hospital Association last week. “Even in the midst of this latest COVID surge, we continue to provide extraordinary care to those that come to us seeking solace,” he says.
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