Cops and Robbers

Belgrade is the next town up from Bozeman going west on I-90. It has some of the best police reporting around. We thought why not share some of it right here, right now, to paint a little local color.

First, there was a little neighborly dispute.

A Three Forks man was arrested Wednesday night after getting in a fight with another man about horses on the wrong side of the property line.

Horse drive in Three Forks, Montana.

According to charging documents, Gallatin County Sheriff’s Deputy Colter Metcalf responded to a Crystal Mountain Road address for an assault in progress at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday.

When Metcalf arrived, he made contact with Larry Dean Hopkins, 38, and another man. Metcalf interviewed the man, referred to as the victim of the scenario in court documents.

The victim said he was stopped in his own driveway when Hopkins approached him.

“Hopkins at one point picked up a fist-sized rock and held it in a threatening manner,” court records state. “The victim stated that Hopkins told him that he was an Army Ranger and that he would kill and rape his entire family.”

The accused admitted to it all. This bloke was lucky. Montana is full of veterans. Next time he claims to have been a Army Ranger, more likely than not, his opponent will utter, "Oh yeah, I was a Navy Seal!." The would be Ranger was freed on $185 bond.

The military theme continues in another incident, where the core dispute was over a more modern mode of transport.

A Belgrade man was jailed last Tuesday evening for impersonating a federal agent while yelling at skateboarders.

At 8:16 p.m., Gallatin County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Gunlikson was dispatched to Royal Road and Sheepshank Driver for the report of a disturbance.

The reporting party said Scott Wilkey, 44, was trying to pull over a mustang using his own vehicle. The 911 caller said they did not know why Wilkey was trying to get the mustang driver to pull over.

When Gunlikson arrived on scene, Wilkey said he “stopped” the Mustang because a skateboarder was being pulled behind the Mustang. Wilkey said he turned in front of the Mustang and stopped, forcing the Mustang driver to stop.

Wilkey claimed that he was concerned for the skateboarder’s safety, but said the Mustang was driving under the posted speed limit. Wilkey showed the deputy his retired military identification badge and said, “If I was wrong, I am wrong, lock me up, but you can’t hold on to the side of a (expletive) car.”

Gunlikson made contact with the driver of the Mustang. The driver admitted to pulling his friend with his car. The driver said Wilkey was using profane language when he “stopped” them. The Mustang driver also said Wilkey passed him on a double yellow, nearly hitting another car, so he could pull in front of him.

When Wilkey got the Mustang boys to pull over, he started “freaking out,” about the skateboarder, charging documents allege. The skateboarder said he remained calm during the incident. He even asked Wilkey to quiet down, so he wouldn’t offend people in their yards with his repeated profanity.

The skateboarder also said Wilkey told him and his friend that he was a federal agent. The skateboarder wanted to leave the scene but he was worried about the repercussions because Wilkey claimed to be a federal agent.

Lock Wilkey up they did, charging him with impersonation of a public servant, a felony, reckless driving, obstructing a peace officer, disorderly conduct and driving with a suspended license. Wilkey made bail.

Meanwhile, there is a movement afoot to build a skateboard park in Belgrade.

BOZEMAN - The city of Belgrade may soon be home to a new skate park. 

The Belgrade Youth Forum is working to bring a new skate park to their town. 

"We want to offer a lot more activity for our youth. There are a lot of adults who are skateboarders, but it's also another community venue where we can create community unity," said Morie Adams-Griffin, Belgrade Youth Forum.
In a survey done by the organization two years ago, high school students said that a swimming pool and a skate park would be their top two additions to community recreation.
Since then, the Belgrade Youth Forum and a skate board committee has worked to make one of the teens' choices a reality. 

"The opportunity to not only give them a venue where they can stay out of trouble and they can learn something new," said Adams-Griffin. 

The park would cover about 6,000 square feet and have more than 1,600 square feet of landscape surrounding the skating area. 

"There will be rails, steps, the bowl, different transitions, so elements of slight inclines," said Adams-Griffin.
Owner of World Boards in Bozeman, Jay Moore said it would be great to see another skate park in the Gallatin Valley. 

"It's something you definitely would want people to have available for them because there's more skateboarders in Belgrade than you might think," said Moore. 

He said now, skaters from Belgrade usually come to Bozeman to shred. 

"There's only one place for skateboarders in Bozeman and there's zero places to go skateboarding in Belgrade," said Moore. 

The mustang pull won't be quite so attractive after they raise the needed funds to construct the park.

Earlier, bandits with a sweet tooth struck. The unidentified perpetrators were admonished to be more considerate.

On July 30, vandals broke into the Belgrade School District and the Belgrade Softball Association’s concession stand. The bandits stole Starburst, Skittles, and Mountain Dew.

Though the monetary value of the items was not high, the softball association is a non-profit group that uses the concession stand to raise money for local programs.

That's all for now. We'll be checking back with the Belgrade News from time to time. Have a good day!