Libby man pleads guilty in road rage incident

A Libby man facing multiple felony charges following an alleged road-rage incident earlier this year near Libby on U.S. 2 pleaded guilty Monday in Lincoln County District Court.

Casey James Chartier, 35, pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and witness tampering. Other charges were dropped in exchange for his plea.

An agreement between the county and Chartiers calls for him to serve a total of 12 years on the three counts with no time suspended. 

At his arraignment, Sept. 22, Chartier pleaded not guilty to three counts of criminal endangerment, two counts each of assault with a weapon and felony possession of dangerous drugs, one count of intimidation, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted person. He also pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanors, criminal possession of drug paraphernalia and unlawful possession of marijuana in a motor vehicle.

Chartier, who is free on bail, will be sentenced Feb. 23. 

The case began in the late-evening hours of Saturday, Aug. 30, when county deputy Joshua Brabo got a call about a possible road-rage incident on U.S. 2 in the Whiskey Hill area. The alleged victims, a passenger in a vehicle, said her boyfriend, Chartier, was trying to run it off the road. The driver of the vehicle, whose daughter was also in the vehicle, took evasive driving actions several times to avoid colliding with Chartier’s vehicle.

The group of three people fled to the county sheriff’s office. Later, according to court documents, Chartier returned to the residence he shared with the alleged victim and sent threatening text messages to the people. Chartier allegedly threatened to destroy her property, including multiple vehicles parked at the residence.

The alleged victim showed officer Thomas multiple text and voice mail messages that Chartier reportedly sent, saying he would commit violence against the trio.

When Chartiers was arrested outside the sheriff’s office, officer Brabo found a concealed handgun in the driver’s side door pocket. He also found a plastic bag that allegedly contained several acetaminophen hydrocodone pills, a small amount of methamphetamine.

According to Brabo’s report, Chartier has a prior conviction of assault with a weapon and is a registered violent offender which means he can’t legally possess a firearm.

Chartier faced an assault with weapon charge in 2019. He pleaded guilty and received a 5-year sentence with two years suspended.