Man pleads not guilty to kidnapping
<p>Joshua Mattingly, 36, of Hungry Horse, pleaded not guilty to kidnapping on Feb. 23.</p>
A 36-year-old Hungry Horse man pleaded not guilty to felony charges of kidnapping and criminal endangerment in Flathead County District Court on Feb. 23.
Joshua Mattingly faces up to 10 years and a $50,000 fine for each felony charge following his arrest Feb. 2. He was also charged with partner-family member assault, a misdemeanor.
Mattingly is also awaiting sentencing for a felony drug possession charge from 2010. He was sentenced to five years with the Department of Corrections in 2004 for felony theft.
In the newest case, according to court documents, deputies responded to a report by a woman who said Mattingly, her ex-boyfriend, had assaulted her. The woman said she and Mattingly got into an argument, and she asked him to leave but he wouldn’t.
The woman took her children outside and attempted to get into her car. Mattingly then allegedly came outside and began to punch and kick the woman to the ground. Mattingly then allegedly dragged the woman back into the house, where he continued to punch and kick her in the head, hip and back.
The woman said she tried to put her head under the bed to protect herself. Deputies saw injuries to the woman’s left eye, back, elbow, forehead and knee.
A neighbor said she heard a woman scream “no, no” and saw Mattingly allegedly drag his ex-girlfriend back into the house. The neighbor also said she saw a young boy run out onto the street yelling, “Daddy is kicking Mommy in the face and beating her up.”
Mattingly’s next hearing on this matter is scheduled for March 7. He also has a sentencing hearing for the 2010 drug charge scheduled for March 29.
In that case, Mattingly was arrested by Kalispell police on March 23, 2010, after his mother reported that he had demanded she hand over some Oxycontin pills. The two allegedly struggled after Mattingly tried to reach inside her coat pocket. Mattingly allegedly made off with some of the pills.
Mattingly faces up to five years and a $50,000 fine for the drug possession charge. In a plea agreement reached in the 2004 theft case, Mattingly was recommended for placement at the Connections Corrections boot camp and was credited $3,500 for 70 days in jail.