A smiling and animated Aaron Martin McGarry reappeared before Judge Robert Allison in Flathead County District Court last week, pleading not guilty to felony strangulation and theft charges.

Authorities arrested McGarry, 36, following a May 10 standoff in an apartment complex off of Liberty Street in Kalispell. He is being held in county jail on a $100,000 bond.

Prosecutors say McGarry attacked his girlfriend the day before the standoff, placing his arm on her neck during an argument in her vehicle. According to court documents, McGarry, who was driving, applied full force to the victim’s throat. She told authorities that she was unable to breathe and believed he was trying to kill her.

She freed herself after hitting him in the face, court documents said. McGarry drove off in her vehicle after she got out of the car. Authorities later found the vehicle, a Nissan Maxima, under a tarp on a property in Whitefish.

In court May 18 for his arraignment, McGarry appeared back in front of Allison, who in 2020 handed him a partially suspended 10-year sentence with the state Department of Corrections for criminal endangerment. In that case, McGarry initially was charged with assault with a weapon for allegedly using a stun gun on the mother of his children during an argument.

McGarry later reached a plea deal with prosecutors, which drew criticism from Allison, who lamented being unable to hand down a tougher sentence, particularly given accusations that McGarry had threatened a detention center officer.

“I want to apologize to the detention officers that I’m not sentencing you to prison today,” Allison said.

During last week’s arraignment, Allison walked McGarry — who earned a talking to from uniformed deputies after waving to people in the audience — through the charges filed against him. He scheduled an omnibus hearing for June 8 and a pretrial conference for June 22.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.