Man in meth-fueled high speed chase sentenced

A 28-year-old Columbia Falls man with a long history of arrests and drug abuse who led deputies on a high speed chase near Somers on March 6 was sentenced to five years with the Department of Corrections.

Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison sentenced David Markwardt on Sept. 26 after he pleaded guilty to felony counts of drug possession and criminal endangerment.

Markwardt was also given a three year consecutive but suspended sentence, with credit for time served, and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine with half suspended. Allison recommended Markwardt be screened for placement at Connections Corrections or another treatment facility, followed by pre-release.

According to court documents, the incident began March 6 when Columbia Falls police officers responded to Markwardt’s Frontage Road home following reports of a woman hitting a vehicle with a two-by-four. Markwardt drove off before the officers arrived.

Six hours later, Markwardt was seen in the Del’s Bar parking lot in Somers. Following a high-speed chase reaching 80 mph, in which Markwardt nearly hit several vehicles, deputies boxed-in his vehicle and stopped him. Markwardt was seen snorting something off the dashboard as the deputies approached his vehicle.

Later at the county jail, an inventory search turned up a baggie containing a substance assumed to be methamphetamine. Markwardt was charged with felony counts of drug possession and criminal endangerment and a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

This was Markwardt’s second major run-in with law enforcement this year. On Jan. 26, two sheriff’s deputies responding to his Columbia Falls home handcuffed a woman and put her in their patrol vehicle. Arresting Markwardt, however, proved to be extremely difficult.

Even after he was handcuffed, the two deputies could not get Markwardt into their vehicle, as he insisted on locking his house before leaving and screamed “police brutality, police brutality.” The deputies hit Markwardt with Taser probes once and then used the Taser directly five more times without success.

Two Columbia Falls police officers arrived to assist. Markwardt was hit with pepper spray with no effect. Officers then turned to dog leashes and backboard straps in an effort to restrain him, as the struggle continued on the water-coated icy ground.

Eventually a doctor was contacted who recommended use of the sedatives Haldol, Versed and Valium, which ambulance personnel standing by administered by an injection to Markwardt’s thigh. Again, according to the deputies’ report, Markwardt continued to resist.

Finally he was restrained and transported to the Kalispell Regional Medical Center emergency room for treatment. About a week later, the county attorney’s office filed a petition to revoke Markwardt’s sentence for a 2010 incident in which he assaulted his girlfriend.

The petition to revoke was dismissed as part of a July 2 plea agreement for the high-speed chase incident. Lab tests later confirmed Markwardt used meth after being released on his own recognizance on July 11.

Since 2003, Markwardt has racked up numerous felony and misdemeanor charges, from driving-related habitual offender, partner-family member assault, meth use, resisting arrest and violating probation to fleeing from Columbia Falls City Court during sentencing.