Prosecutors are seeking to revoke the suspended sentence of a Columbia Falls man who authorities accused in February of endangering deputies while fleeing arrest.

Aaron Martin McGarry, 38, had an outstanding warrant for his arrest when a pair of Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies confronted him on Antelope Trail near Whitefish about 10:33 a.m., Feb. 10, according to court documents. McGarry was sitting inside a running blue Ford Focus and allegedly shifted the vehicle into drive when the deputies tried to pull him out. 

The compact car pulled along the two deputies for a short stretch, court documents said. At least one feared the possibility of being run over.

After the deputies disengaged, the Focus fled southbound on Antelope Trail and disappeared, court documents said.

But deputies — this time four of them — returned two days later and arrested him. Searching him, authorities allegedly uncovered a plastic bag containing white powder in the pocket of McGarry's pants.

While authorities booked him into the county jail, McGarry admitted the substance was cocaine, court documents alleged.

On Feb. 14, prosecutors charged McGarry with felony counts of assault on a peace officer and criminal possession of dangerous drugs in Flathead County District Court. He pleaded not guilty to both at his Feb. 20 arraignment before Judge Paul Sullivan.  

But on May 30, the Flathead County Attorney's Office filed a petition to revoke McGarry's suspended sentence based on McGarry's February run-ins with law enforcement. The attached violation report penned by Tyler Knust, McGarry's probation and parole officer, recommends McGarry receive a new five-year sentence to the state Department of Corrections with none of it suspended.

McGarry's performance under supervision "has been poor," Knust wrote.

"He relapsed on methamphetamine within two months of his release, was unmotivated to participate in chemical dependency treatment, and was failing to report as directed," Knust wrote in the report. "The defendant has historically not done well on probation."

McGarry boasts a lengthy criminal history, including his arrest during a standoff on Liberty Street in Kalispell in May 2022. In that case, McGarry received a three-year sentence with the Department of Corrections on a felony theft conviction.

His 2020 criminal endangerment conviction stemmed from an incident where he allegedly used a Taser on the mother of his children during a disagreement.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].