A 26-year-old Columbia Falls man was sentenced to 15 years under the Montana Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty to assaulting Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial on Halloween night in 2014.

Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison followed a plea deal in sentencing Caleb Buzzell on May 28. He sentenced Buzzell to five years under DOC with a recommendation for placement with Connections Corrections for punching Dial in the nose.

Buzzell also received a five-year suspended and consecutive sentence under DOC for punching a Flathead County sheriff’s deputy in August 2013 and another five-year suspended and consecutive sentence under DOC for possession of acetaminophen-hydrocodone in that case.

He also was ordered to pay $6,917 in restitution to the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority, the city of Whitefish’s insurer, and a $500 net fine. He was credited with 29 days served.

Buzzell had received a six-year deferred sentence for the 2013 case, in which he punched a sheriff’s deputy who had responded to a convenience store in Kalispell for a domestic disturbance report made by Buzzell’s fiancé. That sentence was revoked following the 2014 Halloween incident.

Two citizens came to Dial’s aid on Halloween. A woman said Buzzell appeared very intoxicated and was hiding behind bushes and jumping out at people to scare them. He then stumbled out onto the road, dropped his phone, yelled obscenities at passers-by, and threatened the woman’s family as they got ready to leave.

According to Dial, who responded to the incident, he asked Buzzell if he needed a ride home and then warned Buzzell twice about his hostile actions before firing a Taser at him. The darts, however, could not penetrate Buzzell’s ski parka.

In the ensuing struggle, Dial said, he grabbed Buzzell’s arm and Buzzell punched him in the face. Dial then got Buzzell in a headlock and tried to use the Taser on him. Meanwhile, the woman and her husband left their vehicle and went to Dial’s aid.

According to his father, Buzzell joined the Army when he was 17 and served 15 months in Iraq. During that time, he was involved in door-to-door combat and lost friends and comrades in arms, Rick Buzzell said.