Accused abortion clinic vandal could change plea

A change of plea may be in the works for a 25-year-old Columbia Falls man charged with breaking into and vandalizing the All Families Healthcare clinic, Kalispell’s only abortion provider.

A change of plea notice was filed in Flathead County District Court for Zachary Klundt on March 3. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 2.

According to court records, police arrested Zachary Klundt on March 4, 2014 around 6 p.m. after a resident reported seeing a possibly drunk man trying to pick a lock at a business on South Main Street in Kalispell.

Klundt was found in possession of a loaded, concealed handgun, a loaded spare magazine and several other weapons, according to police. Officers also noted “substantial similarities” between Klundt and the suspect in the abortion clinic break-in.

Klundt was later charged with felony counts of burglary, criminal mischief, theft and attempted burglary.

The break-in at the abortion clinic was reported around 8:30 a.m. the day of Klundt’s arrest. Entry to the building was made through a broken back door window. Damage to medical equipment and the building was expected to run in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Two more charges of felony theft have been added to Klundt’s case. He is charged with stealing tools from a log home business on Highway 40 and stealing firearms and a tablet computer from a home near Lake Blaine.

Last June, Judge Ted Lympus denied a motion to release Klundt on his own recognizance after 24 people wrote letters of support for him. In July, Lympus denied a motion by Klundt’s attorney for the state to pay for a psychological evaluation.

In September, Lympus denied a motion to release Klundt to his parents. Soon afterwards, family friends put up their home in Dayton to post a $100,000 property bond. Klundt left for a 60-day in-patient residential treatment program at The Wilderness Center, west of Kalispell, in October.