Saturday, January 18, 2025
7.0°F

Alleged dognapper given suspended sentences

DERRICK PERKINS | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 months, 1 week AGO
by DERRICK PERKINS
Daily Inter Lake | August 11, 2024 12:00 AM

A Kalispell woman brought up on felony charges after a confrontation over an allegedly abducted dog in 2023 received a pair of suspended sentences in Flathead County District Court earlier this year.

Ashley Nicole Smith, 38, faced counts of criminal mischief and criminal possession of dangerous drugs after allegedly ramming her ex-boyfriend's vehicle and threatening him with a gun in Kalispell on Sept. 23, 2023. She pleaded guilty to both in Flathead County District Court in January after striking a deal with prosecutors.  

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to recommended she serve a pair of five-year suspended sentences with the state Department of Corrections. Judge Dan Wilson, who presided over the case, stuck to the terms of the deal at Smith's March 14 sentencing. 

Wilson ordered that the two sentences run concurrently, and that Smith receive 109 days of credit for time served.  

Kalispell Police officers arrested Smith after responding to a report of a motor vehicle accident on the 500 block of Ninth Avenue West that had turned into an armed confrontation, according to court documents. Smith allegedly rammed the victim's car, causing an estimated $1,500 in damage, before threatening him with a gun.  

The confrontation stemmed from the alleged abduction of a dog. The victim told authorities that Smith had previously taken the dog of a mutual friend, who was in the hospital, to a Lore Lake Road house. That resident had phoned the victim earlier in the morning, saying a woman had come by the house and stole away with the animal, according to court documents.  

Suspecting Smith, the victim drove to her home on Kalispell's west end and spotted her in her Dodge pickup with the missing dog, court documents said. Smith allegedly became angry.   

Authorities who searched Smith following her arrest found a glass pipe with white residue and a plastic bag containing a crystalline substance, which was suspected of being methamphetamine, according to court documents.

MORE LOCAL-NEWS STORIES

Glacier High speech and debate bags a win in Corvallis
Daily Inter-Lake | Updated 3 days, 2 hours ago
Basin sports schedule Jan. 8-14
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 1 week, 2 days ago
First Day Hikes at Northwest Montana state parks
Whitefish Pilot | Updated 3 weeks, 1 day ago

ARTICLES BY DERRICK PERKINS

Motorist in drug-fueled wreck given partially suspended sentence
January 16, 2025 11 p.m.

Motorist in drug-fueled wreck given partially suspended sentence

Prosecutors charged Jason Robert Skalsky, 52, with felony negligent vehicular assault in the wake of the Feb. 25 wreck near the intersection of Woodland Avenue and Willow Glen Drive.

Brother faces felony for allegedly threatening sibling with kitchen knife
January 13, 2025 11 p.m.

Brother faces felony for allegedly threatening sibling with kitchen knife

Erick Navarijo faces one count of felony assault with a weapon in Flathead County District Court following his Jan. 2 arrest at a home on Tamarack Way.

Suspected meth dealer back behind bars
January 8, 2025 11 p.m.

Suspected meth dealer back behind bars

Authorities are holding Jeremy Lee Webster, 37, in the Flathead County Detention Center with bail set at $15,000.