Plea deal reached in Columbia Falls stun gun attack
Jeremy Weber Hungry Horse News | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 11 months AGO
A man who allegedly used a stun gun on the mother of his children while she tried to call 911 on him has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
Aaron Martin McGarry of Whitefish was charged with felony assault with a weapon after allegedly assaulting the woman at her home in Columbia Falls in September, but the new plea deal reduces the charges to felony criminal endangerment in exchange for a guilty plea in Flathead County District Court. The plea deal asks that McGarry be sentenced to five years with the state Department of Corrections and pay all court-ordered costs and fines.
In addition, the plea agreement drops the additional charges of stalking and violation of a protective order.
According to charging documents, dispatch received a 911 call Sept. 22 in which the victim could be heard begging McGarry to stop and to let her go. Upon their arrival at the scene, police officers were informed by the victim that, after a verbal altercation, McGarry had pushed her onto a couch and shocked her three times while she attempted to call 911. The victim was unable to speak with the dispatcher until she escaped from McGarry and was able to lock herself in an adjacent bedroom. McGarry was released from the Flathead County Detention Center after posting $100,000 bond Dec. 12, but he was back in jail after apparently violating the terms of his bail.
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