A sex offender is expected to be charged in Lincoln County District Court after allegedly running over a Eureka bicyclist with a car at 50 to 60 miles per hour on May 9 in order to rob the victim.

Brian Thomas Norvell, 28, was taken into custody after the incident for probation violations. Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Anthony Jenson said that charges are pending.

“He should be getting charged here quick,” Jenson said.

Jenson would not give out too many details about the incident until charges were filed.

“The victim was riding a bicycle south on Highway 37,” Jenson said. “He was struck from behind. Later he hitchhiked a ride back to the crash scene.”

Norvell was taken into custody near the crash scene close to mile marker 60.

Victim Luca Johnson has been able to put together a more complete version of what allegedly happened that day. Johnson, 21, is a touring bicyclist and bicycle mechanic at Sportsman & Ski Haus in Kalispell.

He said he had been riding for a few minutes when he pulled to the side of Montana 37. A man in a vehicle pulled over and asked him the time.

“I just got this really bad feeling, because it just seemed like he was high on drugs or something,” Johnson said. Johnson gave him the time and the driver drove off and turned around.

“He turned around and gave me a mean look,” Johnson said.

The next thing he remembers, he was waking up in a medical helicopter.

The details of what happened were relayed to Johnson by law enforcement.

“He hit me at what was likely 50 or 60 miles per hour,” Johnson said. “He went through my backpack and then proceeded to try to push his car into Lake Koocanusa. He pushed it over the cliff and it went down about 100 feet, but it didn’t make it all the way.”

Trooper Jenson confirmed that the car was apparently stashed and hidden in the woods, but did not confirm that Lake Koocanusa was the ultimate target for the vehicle. Jenson said those details are part of an ongoing investigation.

The assailant hitchhiked a ride, but the driver ended up dropping him near the accident scene, where Norvell allegedly handed over the wallet he had taken from Johnson and confessed to the crime.

Johnson’s uncle reportedly found the $4 that had been in the wallet on the side of the road.

At the hospital, Johnson found out that he had a concussion with two fractures to the skull, road rash covering his entire body, a broken ankle, broken toe and other fractures throughout his foot.

Johnson spent four days in the hospital.

He has been participating in rehabilitation for his brain injury and has to wear a boot on his foot for the next 10 to 12 weeks. He has lost his sense of smell and doctors are uncertain when it will return.

“They say it’s kind of a miracle I can still see,” Johnson said.

Overall, Johnson is thankful to his mother, sister, and girlfriend who have been helping him recover.

“They’ve really been working to make sure my life is normal,” Johnson said.

More than $6,000 has been raised through a GoFundMe account for Johnson.

Specialized Bike Company replaced Johnson’s touring bicycle.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Johnson said. “It makes me emotional that so many people care.”

Johnson said he has talked with prosecutors in the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office and hopes Norvell is charged with attempted vehicular manslaughter. Johnson believes that Norvell’s actions were intentional. Norvell’s grandmother allegedly called police the day of the incident and warned that Norvell wanted to hurt someone.

Trooper Jenson confirmed that there was a call to police from the grandmother but did not divulge details.

“It’s just kind of freaky that this guy was out on the streets in the first place,” Johnson said. “He did it on purpose and he had every intention to kill me that day.”

At the time of his arrest, Norvell was on felony probation out of California for eluding officers in 2015. He was arrested in December 2015 in Libby for two counts of partner family member assault after he allegedly ripped out a cabinet and beat two people with the pieces.

He is a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty in 2006 to one count of sexual assault of a child as part of a plea agreement where seven other felony counts were dropped.

Norvell tried to withdraw his guilty plea by claiming that he had a history of mental illness and that he “has been diagnosed with undifferentiated schizophrenia in the past.” A court of appeals in California found that Norvell’s guilty plea was valid.

Johnson’s benefit account can be found at www.gofundme.com/23usc5w.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.