Man sentenced for Marias Pass burglary

A 24-year-old Missoula man charged in the attempted burglary of a home near Marias Pass last fall was sentenced to prison in Flathead County District Court on May 10.

Jonathan Graves was also sentenced for his role in stealing money from a vehicle in Kalispell three days before the attempted burglary and for attempting to escape from the courtroom during a December hearing.

According to court records, a man later identified as Graves took a vehicle for a test drive in Kalispell on Nov. 23, 2011. The owner reported several thousand dollars in cash and a bag of coins missing, and police tracked down the vehicle Graves was in, a white Jeep Cherokee.

Then, on Nov. 26, 2011, two men surprised a resident in his home near the Snow Slip Inn. The homeowner awoke as one of the men stood next to his bed going through his wallet. The homeowner yelled, scaring off the burglars. Deputies tried to stop the intruders as they fled westbound on U.S. 2 at speeds up to 100 mph.

The suspects’ vehicle, a white Jeep Cherokee, avoided spike strips that deputies laid across the highway west of Nyack Flats. Hunters found the vehicle early the next morning overturned on Cedar Creek Road, north of Columbia Falls.

Several items related to the Marias Pass burglary and the Kalispell theft were found in the Jeep. Further investigation revealed that the Jeep was registered to the girlfriend of Jonathan Graves, a man being sought in Glacier County for a methamphetamine charge.

Graves was located Dec. 10 sleeping in his vehicle in Kalispell. He had outstanding warrants from Missoula and Glacier counties.

Graves allegedly told deputies he and the other man involved in the burglary had thrown more than a dozen rifles and two pistols from the vehicle during the Nov. 26 chase. He also said they had traded guns for drugs, and officials suspect the guns were stolen during home invasions.

On Dec. 22, Graves attempted to escape during a hearing in the district courtroom. He hit a detention officer hard enough to send him to the hospital and was hit by a Taser fired by another detention officer in the stairwell. A citizen, a highway patrol trooper and a third detention officer then subdued Graves.

Following a plea agreement, District Court Judge David Ortley sentenced Graves to 10 years in prison with five suspended for his role in the Marias Pass burglary and a consecutive 10-year sentence with five years suspended for his attempted courtroom escape.

Graves was also ordered to pay $500 in restitution to the burglary victims, $3,500 to the Kalispell theft victim and $2,420 to an insurance company.