Kidnapping suspect receives suspended sentence after pleading out
DERRICK PERKINS | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year AGO
Adam Joel Whiteman. (Photo courtesy the Flathead County Sheriff's Office)
NEWS EDITOR Derrick Perkins serves as News Editor at the Daily Inter Lake. He oversees daily news coverage and works closely with reporters to plan, edit and publish stories across print and digital platforms. Perkins helps coordinate coverage of local government, public safety, business and community developments throughout Northwest Montana. He works with the reporting staff to strengthen journalism while maintaining consistent daily coverage. His role helps ensure the newsroom delivers timely, accurate reporting that readers rely on. IMPACT: Derrick’s work keeps readers informed about the decisions and events shaping their communities every day. | August 17, 2025 12:00 AM
A Browning man arrested in Flathead County for allegedly kidnapping his ex-girlfriend from Missoula in 2024 received a suspended sentence earlier this year.
Adam Joel Whiteman, 26, pleaded not guilty to a felony kidnapping charge and misdemeanor counts of partner or family member assault and escape at his May 7, 2024, arraignment in Flathead County District Court. But he inked a plea deal with prosecutors in September of that year.
In exchange for seeing the two misdemeanor counts dropped, Whiteman agreed to plead guilty to felony criminal endangerment. Per the deal, prosecutors were to recommend that he receive a three-year suspended sentence to run concurrently with another sentence out of Cascade County.
Appearing before Judge Danni Coffman on Sept. 26, Whiteman entered the guilty plea to the amended charge. Coffman stuck to the terms of the deal at Whiteman's April 10, 2025, sentencing. In addition to the suspended sentence, he received credit for 158 days of time served.
Whiteman came to the attention of Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies in April 2024 after his victim escaped by bailing out of a moving vehicle on U.S. 2 in Columbia Heights, according to court documents. She made her way to a coffee shop where she phoned the authorities and told them her ex-boyfriend had held her hostage in a black 2017 Kia Sorento.
She said the ordeal began in Missoula when Whiteman allegedly shoved her, took her keys and phone, and forced her into the Kia. She mounted several failed attempts to escape before eventually breaking free, court documents said.
Deputies found an abandoned Kia east of Nyack Ranger Station Road between West Glacier and Essex, officials said at the time. BNSF Railway employees reported spotting a man matching Whiteman's description walking the nearby tracks.
Pursuing deputies eventually used impact munitions to take Whiteman into custody, authorities said. He was later taken to Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell for an evaluation, where he temporarily escaped from custody, officials said at the time.
Kalispell Police officers later captured him.
News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].
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