Recalling Cassieri's Car

I will not soon forget a night in 1951 when the Missoula police called the Smokejumper barracks to tell me they had “one of my men,” Al Cassieri, in jail. They said he had been arrested while chopping open a car down on Woody Street in front of Spider’s Maverick Saloon. I drove into town for Al’s side of the story at the police station.

Reported that he and his brother had gotten into a “friendly fight” in the bar and his brother had hit him a dirty but solid blow below the belt, then ran and jumped in Al’s car and locked the doors. Al said he felt a fraternal duty to get the kid out of the car and teach him some manners. In Brooklyn, where they were raised, it was alright to fight dirty... but not with your brother. So Al had gotten an axe out of the trunk and was working on the door when the police came by and handcuffed him. He said he didn’t mind that but the kid shouldn’t have cheered when they loaded his older brother into the paddy wagon.

After eliciting a solemn promise from Al that he would drop his petty complaints against the kid brother, and finding that his car was not insured, I pointed out to the police that no crime had been committed. We all agreed that it was a rather strange event and they released Al to my custody. Should I have time someplace down the road, I will write a Smokejumper book and have a full chapter on Cassieri. That will include details of the time he dove off the fence around the old Fort Missoula swimming pool on a five dollar bet... and missed the part where the water was.

I was reminded of Al Cassieri while reporting on an early morning newscast about an incident up in Lincoln County.

A witness saw a car go out of control and crash while coming down the Libby Creek road so he went to the nearest phone and called for help.

When the ambulance and officers arrived at the scene, the wrecked car was burning bright enough to light up the countryside; however the fire was extinguished, no bodies located. Investigators did find that the gas tank had been chopped open with a hatchet.

While a sheriff’s deputy was pondering the situation, two inebriated men staggered in, upset about the flames being doused. They said they had been sitting up on the “hillshide” really enjoying the “wunnerful fire.” Turns out, one of the men was the owner of the vehicle and after it had let him down by failing to properly follow the road, they had decided to teach it a lesson, while they had a few more drinks.

The car owner was charged with DUI but I don’t know whether or not they made it stick. He could have claimed he was not drunk at the time of the accident. That tactic of course, would have forced him to admit he’d burned up his own car while cold sober, which might be tough to live down... even in Lincoln County.

Nominee for “Jerk of the Month” should be the guy in Lincoln County who tried to call down the law on a woman who was hitchhiking beside Highway 2 near a tavern east of Troy. As the evening grew cooler and no ride came along, the desperate lady, sans-bra, began opening her blouse to the view of passing cars. Our hero called Sheriff’s officers and told them they should do something about “this disgraceful situation.”

Only a genuine cad would betray a lady trying doubly hard to get home to her hearth and loved ones; but it takes a world class jerk to do such a thing after “watching her for over an hour.”

George Ostrom is an award-winning columnist. He lives in Kalispell.