A 24-year-old Columbia Falls man pleaded not guilty on Nov. 6 to beating two people with a baseball bat.

Todd Louis Pajnich faces two charges of assault with a weapon and faces up to 20 years and a $50,000 fine for each charge.

According to court documents, a Flathead County sheriff’s deputy responded to the Town Pump in Columbia Falls on Oct. 27 and found a man and a woman covered in blood and crying.

They said they had been hanging out at Pajnich’s home when an argument over finances started between Pajnich and the woman. As the argument turned physical, they said, Pajnich struck both of them with a baseball bat. They were transported to North Valley Hospital for treatment.

Another deputy drove to Pajnich’s home on Steele Drive off Highway 206 and spoke with a man with a similar name who said he saw the incident.

Pajnich was arrested, and bail was initially set at $40,000. Flathead County District Court Judge David Ortley reduced the bail to $5,000 on Nov. 6, and Pajnich posted bail and was released on house arrest with a GPS bracelet. He has an omnibus hearing scheduled for Feb. 4.