Gunfire reports leads to C-Falls man's arrest

A 34-year-old Columbia Falls man was arrested Oct. 18 after sheriff's deputies responded to a report of shots fired at a home on 13th Street East North.

Joby Bealmer was initially charged with four misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, possession of dangerous drugs and DUI.

Sheriff's deputies received multiple calls by neighbors who heard shots in the area and a man who yelled "You're going to die" before the shooting began.

According to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry, deputies contacted Bealmer as he was driving out of the area. Bealmer reportedly told deputies he thought he had seen a light go off in his house and the back door open when he arrived home. He said he went to his truck, got his gun and started shooting into his backyard.

Curry said Bealmer was "relatively uncooperative," and deputies took him into custody "after a little bit of a struggle." Bealmer is being held in the Flathead County Detention Center on charges of threats in official or political manners and intimidation by coercion.

Police have known for some time that Bealmer is the president of Montana Crew, the local chapter of the Brother Speed Motorcycle Club, of Portland, Ore. Established in May 1969, Brother Speed is considered an outlaw motorcycle club by law enforcement. They have chapters in Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho and Montana and hold a "Glacier Run" trip in the Flathead area.