How law officers do their job was front and center during the fourth day of a civil jury trial about a man who was shot by Kalispell Police officers while they attempted to take his mother into custody for a mental health check.

Ryan Pengelly, 35, sued the city of Kalispell and the police department in 2019 after he was shot by two Kalispell Police Department officers inside his home in January 2016 while answering a call about the mental health of Pengelly’s mother, Bonnie.

Attorneys for Ryan Pengelly have argued police didn’t obtain an arrest warrant for Bonnie when they arrived at the home the two of them shared on Looking Glass Drive on Jan. 12, 2016.

Attorneys representing the City of Kalispell and the police department maintain it’s not police procedure to obtain an arrest warrant when taking someone into custody for a mental health check.

Thursday, jurors heard from the man who first called police with concerns about Bonnie’s mental health after she allegedly threatened her own life and the life of a girlfriend of Ryan Pengelly.

Brent Smith was an administrator at a Kalispell nursing home, Heritage Place, in January 2016, when two certified nursing aides came to him and described threats Bonnie reportedly made to them.

“She went into elaboration of details,” Smith said. “She said ‘get me a 30-round clip’ and I was very concerned. I wasn’t going to have this in my building.”

Smith said when Kalispell Police officer Eric Brinton arrived at the home, he spoke with Smith and two aides who described Bonnie’s alleged threats.

“I wanted him to know how I felt about this situation. I couldn’t have her back in my building until a mental health assessment had been done,” Smith said. “I was concerned for our residents, our staff, Bonnie’s daughter-in-law (Ryan’s girlfriend) and Bonnie.”

When Pengelly co-counsel Peter Leander questioned Smith about his intentions in making the call, he said “I wanted to prevent a potential disaster. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt and I wanted law enforcement to be involved.”

Mike McCarthy, an instructor and operations manager at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy, detailed his nearly 40-year career in law enforcement. Before joining the Academy, he worked in various capacities with the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office before retiring as a sergeant.

“Officers are not going to get an arrest warrant for a mental health detention,” McCarthy said. “It’s a custodial hold, not an arrest for a crime. A mental health hold is not a crime, which is why a warrant would be needed.”

Before Smith and McCarthy testified, Jennifer Crowley, a life care planner with her own business in the Flathead and a registered nurse for 27 years, talked about her work with Ryan Pengelly and his possible needs in the future.

She accompanied Pengelly to doctor appointments and worked with physicians who cared for him after he was shot to develop a plan for him in relation to his future health care needs.

Pengelly suffered a lacerated liver and pancreas, two rib fractures, spinal vertebrae fractures, a damaged colon and small intestine after being shot multiple times.

“Ryan still has metallic fragments in his body in the top of the left pelvis and I presume they are bullet fragments,” Crowley said. “Chronic lead exposure can cause a variety of health problems.

“He also has cramps in his lower, left leg when standing for a long time and he’s dealt with pancreatitis and it could be a potential complication as he gets older,” she said.

Crowley estimated Pengelly’s future health expenses at between $107,706 and $257, 051.

“He’s doing a physically demanding job and he’s very resilient, but he told me he can’t miss a day of work or it would devastate him financially. “I’d refer him to an occupational therapist to see if there is some other kind of work he could do in the future,” Crowley said.

Jones, one of the city’s attorneys, asked Crowley if Pengelly was on prescription medication or had any work restrictions. She said he wasn’t.

The trial is expected to conclude Friday

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or [email protected].