A long string of crimes committed in the Canyon communities has seen a veritable parade of youths through the county court system and has prompted Canyon neighbors to organize a neighborhood watch program.

James Smith, 13, Hungry Horse; his brother Mathew Hauck, 15; Daniel Trenk, 16, Coram; Christian Close, 15, Hungry Horse; and Skyla Komeotis, 16, Kalispell, have faced a combined 14 felonies and 46 misdemeanors across more than a dozen cases.

The exploits of the group were brought to light after Smith’s daring Aug. 29, 2012, escape from the Flathead County Juvenile Detention Center.

Their activities in the Canyon, as well as other criminal activity in the area, led residents to seek help directly from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.

“We’ve met with the community several times and helped them organize a neighborhood watch-type group because a lot of the homeowners and business owners up there feel that they’re being victimized by a group of these kids,” Sheriff Chuck Curry said.

Curry said the majority of his office’s assistance has been to provide the group with information on what to look for, how to report information on what they see and what they can do.

Detective Commander Dick Sine said the area provides many challenges to law enforcement, chiefly in a historical lack of reporting of crimes in the area — a trend he hopes is changing with the new neighborhood watch organization.

“A part of this may be local culture — ‘don’t narc on your neighbors,’” Sine said. “When that happens, things go unreported, and while the perception of people is that things are running amok, we may think we have a handle on it. But we clearly can’t get a handle on it if we don’t know what’s going on.”

Sine said some people have refused to talk directly with police because of a fear of retaliation. He said it will take time to change that perception, that people have to see that they can report crimes and get results, and that their anonymity is protected or the risk of retaliation is reduced.

But progress is being made, however slowly.

“We do have a relatively good handle on who is committing probably the bulk of the criminal activity,” Sine said. “But what we know and what we can prove in a court of law are sometimes different.”

Sine’s confidence in the knowledge of the sheriff’s office has been borne out by the interconnected cases that have been brought against Smith, Hauck, Komeotis, Trenk and Close.

ON SEPT. 30, 2012, Komeotis was placed on probation until at least the age of 18 or until either her 21st birthday or she satisfies all of her conditions, whichever comes first.

According to information provided by former Deputy Flathead County Attorney Lori Adams, Komeotis was alleged to have burglarized a home in late April 2012; hit her brother in the stomach with a baseball bat on May 27, 2012; stole an all-terrain vehicle on April 27, 2012; stole multiple items including firearms and electronics from the same house the following day; and stole a van, two bottles of wine and cigarettes the day after that.

She also was alleged to have confronted another girl, shouting loud enough to wake several neighbors, after having been drinking alcohol on May 2, 2012, and to have attempted to lie to police the following day. Other allegations include threatening and assaulting a girl on May 20, 2012.

Komeotis allegedly committed several of the property crimes with Smith and/or Hauck.

A note from Adams indicated Komeotis could have been charged in adult court for the felony burglary, but Adams chose to charge her in juvenile court only because Komeotis “ultimately came clean and told the truth.”

ON JUNE 15, 2012, Trenk was placed on probation for at least one year and until either his 21st birthday or he satisfies all of his conditions, whichever comes first.

According to court documents, Trenk allegedly assaulted another boy on Feb. 12, 2012, in Martin City. Trenk, Hauck and Close reportedly were together when they approached the home of the victim.

Trenk first taunted the boy before repeatedly punching him in the face until the boy was able to get inside his home and lock the door. His 9-year-old sister had to call for help.

The boy suffered two fractures in his cheekbone and a cracked nose. He later told police that Trenk had assaulted him over CDs being returned late, despite the fact that he had returned them two days prior to the assault. Trenk also allegedly was found drunk in Coram on July 16, 2011.

Trenk is now facing charges in a new case, details of which were not available at the time of publication.

ON OCT. 12, 2012, Close was placed on probation for at least one year and until either his 21st birthday or he satisfies all of his conditions, whichever comes first.

According to a court document in the first of his five cases, Close allegedly broke the window of a restroom at the Lion Lake picnic area in Hungry Horse on Sept. 6, 2011 and stole an iPod from a gym locker on Nov. 4, 2011.

In his second case, Close allegedly was involved in the Martin City assault and lied to police.

In his third case, Close allegedly got into a fight on Feb. 28, 2012, and broke into Canyon Elementary School on April 14, 2012.

In his fourth case, Close allegedly sent threatening and derogatory text messages to a schoolmate, upsetting her so severely that she considered suicide. He also allegedly followed the girl around school and taunted her.

In his fifth case, Close was alleged to have stolen two pair of tennis shoes and two bottles of alcohol from one vehicle and necklaces, a lug wrench, a stereo faceplate and a carved bear from another vehicle, both on Aug. 1, 2012.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be contacted at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.