A Kalispell man is facing an assault with a weapon charge in Flathead County District Court for allegedly pulling a knife on a gas station employee in Evergreen last month.  

Coby James Johns, 32, pleaded not guilty to the felony charge before Judge Paul Sullivan on Dec. 11. Sullivan set an omnibus hearing for Feb. 4 and scheduled a pretrial conference for Feb. 25. Johns remains behind bars in the meantime with bail set at $25,000.  

The Dec. 6 confrontation began after the employee told Johns to hit the road, according to court documents. The employee later told Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies that Johns was previously banned from the property for loitering and collecting cigarette butts from an ashtray on the premises.  

Despite repeatedly being told to leave, Johns allegedly refused to move and later became angry and argumentative. An upset Johns pulled out a black folding knife and threatened to stab the employee, court documents said.  

A witness corroborated the employee's account of the confrontation. Seeing Johns armed with a knife, the witness pulled out a pocketknife, though he did not open it, court documents said.   

Johns is already facing assault and criminal mischief charges in Flathead County Justice Court in a case connected to another employee of the gas station, prosecutors wrote in the charging documents filed in district court.  

If convicted of the felony, Johns faces up to 20 years in Montana State Prison and a $50,000 fine.  

Prosecutors previously brought Johns up on a felony assault with a weapon charge in 2024 for allegedly threatening a bar employee with a hatchet in February of that year. Johns threatened to crush the employee's skull with the hatchet, court documents said. 

Johns initially maintained his innocence in that case, but agreed to plead guilty to an amended count of misdemeanor assault as the trial in that case began in May 2024.  

Judge Danni Coffman, who presided over the case, sentenced Johns to six months, all suspended, in the county jail on May 20. 

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