A Lakeside man accused of reaching for a deputy's gun while struggling with law enforcement in January 2024 later received a suspended jail sentence. 

Prosecutors brought James Scott Mende, 39, up on a felony charge of threats or improper influence in official or political matters and misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and partner or family member assault following his Jan. 4, 2024, arrest in Lakeside. He pleaded not guilty before Judge Amy Eddy in Flathead County District Court later that month.  

But in May of that year, he took a deal that saw him plead guilty to misdemeanor resisting arrest. The other two charges were dismissed and prosecutors noted that the victim in the partner or family member assault charge had recanted her story.  

Eddy subsequently handed down a suspended six-month sentence and gave him credit for time served.  

Mende's arrest came after deputies headed to a Center Court home for a report of a man overheard threatening to beat his girlfriend. Mende allegedly threatened the deputies after they questioned him and fought back when they tried to place him in handcuffs.  

Mende reached for a deputy's gun and holster during the struggle, court documents said.  

Later taken to the county jail, Mende allegedly accosted the deputy accompanying him, including threatening to hurt him.  

Mende had a history of run-ins with law enforcement, including threatening them, by the time of his January 2024 arrest. He pleaded guilty by way of an Alford plea in the summer of 2023 to a felony charge that grew out of a confrontation with deputies following his arrest for drunkenly trying to get inside a closed Lakeside saloon.  

Authorities accused Mende of challenging a deputy to fight and threatening the deputy's wife.  

In an Alford plea, a defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges a jury likely would find them guilty. 

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