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Man pleads not guilty to forgery, bail jumping

Jesse Davis | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 9 months AGO
by Jesse Davis
| February 3, 2013 5:50 PM

A 41-year-old Kalispell man already facing a pair of charges in one case pleaded not guilty Jan. 31 in Flathead District Court to charges in two new cases.

One of the new cases against Coby Johnson charges him with felony counts of deceptive practices and forgery as well as a misdemeanor count of theft.

Those charges stem from an allegation that Johnson used or attempted to use a woman’s credit card at least 30 times after stealing it from her home on Aug. 24, 2012, while spraying for pests.

In his most recent case, Johnson is charged with felony bail jumping after failing to appear for his trial on charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor partner or family member assault alleged in his other active case.

According to a court document in the burglary and assault case, Johnson’s ex-wife initially contacted Kalispell police on Jan. 20, 2012, to report that they had been in a fight earlier that evening and he pushed her so hard she lost her balance and hit her head and arm on a door frame in the home.

Kalispell Fire Department personnel responded to the call and suggested she go to the hospital.

When officers attempted to contact Johnson, he allegedly said he would not talk to them. His ex-wife called them again a short time later, saying Johnson had been calling her incessantly and sending her threatening texts and voicemails ever since they talked to him.

She called yet again later that evening to say Johnson had called her and told her he was in her home, lying on her bed.

The document states that officers then responded to her home, where they saw Johnson through the windows, drinking a beer and sending messages on Facebook. They also noted that the front door was damaged and seemed to have been broken into. Johnson was then taken into custody.

Officers contacted his ex-wife, who came home. When she arrived, she found all of her bras, underwear and shoes had been put into a garbage bag near the computer Johnson had been using. She also confirmed the damage to the door and that Johnson had been sending Facebook messages while logged on to her account.

Johnson pleaded not guilty to the burglary and assault charges on Feb. 9, 2012.

If convicted of all his charges, Johnson faces between one day and 61 years in prison and a fine of between $100 and $152,000 as well as any restitution.

Johnson’s next hearing in the deceptive practices, forgery and theft case is scheduled for April 10. His next hearings in both the bail jumping case and the burglary and assault case are scheduled for May 8.

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