Burglar found to be mentally incompetent
A 22-year-old Libby man has been sentenced for his role in three burglaries and five thefts that occurred during a crime spree in Whitefish in May 2013.
Following two psychological evaluations that determined Andrew Dlask was incompetent to undertake legal proceedings, and a plea bargain that dismissed two charges of his five initial charges, Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht on July 31 committed Dlask to three 10-year suspended terms under the care of the Montana Department of Health and Human Services.
Dlask initially faced three burglary charges, one theft charge and one criminal mischief charge, all felonies, after he admitted his role in nine incidents involving stolen bikes and computers, a stolen electric scooter and damage to a Mercedes Benz.
Dlask also admitted stealing a 2000 Nissan pickup truck. Whitefish police officers spotted the truck near the F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. mill shortly after it went missing and pursued it. Dlask fled on foot north of the mill and was apprehended after a lengthy pursuit through thick forest, a creek and swamp land — later described as a “Spartan race.”
A cell phone belonging to Dlask’s accomplice, Casey Ehrlick, was found near the Mercedes Benz the day the two arrived in Whitefish. Dlask told officers their car had broken down at City Beach the first day of the crime spree.
Later in a letter written to look like a legal document, Dlask said he had waived his right to not speak to officers because of “undue duress” and because he was “frightened.” He also said he didn’t trust his public defender, Jessica Polan, “whom is also employed by the state, creating a conflict of interest.”
In another letter written to look like a legal document, Dlask asked that his charges be dismissed “because there are no constitutional criminal laws, governments are not sovereign and cannot promulgate or enforce criminal law, they can only enforce and create civil law.”
About a month later, Polan filed a request to dismiss the charges based on the findings of a psychological evaluation by Dr. Vincent River. Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan later asked for a second psychological evaluation, which led to Dlask’s plea bargain and sentence.