Judge doesn’t lower bail in shooting case

A Columbia Falls man accused in a December drive-by shooting of several Kalispell residences appeared in Flathead District Court Tuesday seeking a reduction in his bond, but Judge Dan Wilson denied it.

Ansen Walter Ingraham, 18, appeared with his attorney, Caleb Simpson, in seeking a reduction from $200,000 to $25,000. The courtroom was packed with friends and family representing the defendant as well as the victims.

Citing public safety as well as the fact that guns used in the shooting still haven’t been located, Wilson denied Ingraham’s request for a lower bail amount.

Simpson argued that both of Ingraham’s parents are employed and that Ingraham, prior to his incarceration, was making money in the cryptocurrency industry as well as online day trading in penny stocks. The attorney also said Ingraham would live with his father, Jody Ingraham, in Columbia Falls, and he didn’t wish to be around his friends.

Simpson also acknowledged his client’s past transgressions, including speeding and traffic violations, as well as a blood alcohol violation at the City Beach in Whitefish in 2019.

He did say that Jody Ingraham knew he would have to find somewhere to store the many firearms that are present in the home.

Flathead County Attorney Alison Howard introduced Lauren O’Connell, one of the victims in the shooting incident. O’Connell, the mother of four children, spoke about the fear her family still endures as they get ready for bed.

“Ever since the shooting, we say extra prayers, we turn on our outside lights and my heart aches as I put my son to bed where he could have taken his last breath,” O’Connell said.

Kalispell Police Department Detective Karen Webster testified to Ingraham’s past criminal history, including a 2015 incident in Columbia Falls where Ingraham and two others allegedly fired a paintball gun at some students. He was also charged with a later incident where Ingraham said on Nov. 20, 2015, to one of the previous victims “don’t worry, I don’t have a gun this time.”

Court records also indicate Ingraham was charged with disorderly conduct April 13, 2016, allegedly over a fight between Ingraham and a classmate.

Webster also said the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office was investigating an October 2017 burglary that Ingraham was alleged to have been involved in. He added that the Sheriff’s Office was investigating a November/December 2019 stolen gun incident that could be linked to the shooting.

Simpson did elicit testimony from Webster that one of the three people involved in the paintball gun incident implicated another person, and not Ingraham, as the person who fired the gun.

Howard spoke about phone calls Ingraham had made from the county jail since he was arrested.

“He has spoken to at least one of his co-defendants on the jail phone and has said to not speak to police,” Howard said. “I also have concern over his substance abuse problems, criminal history and access to guns.”

Ingraham and Joseph Trapper Bukowski, 19, pleaded not guilty Jan. 9 to several felony offenses. Each man is facing two felony counts of assault with a weapon and three counts of criminal endangerment. Both are facing maximum penalties of 70 years in the Montana State Prison if convicted of all offenses.

At the Jan. 9 court appearance, both Simpson and Bukowski’s attorney Timothy Wenz said they would make requests for bond reduction hearings in the future. Bukowski is incarcerated at the Flathead County Detention Center on $250,000 while Ingraham remains in jail on a $200,000 bond.

Ingraham was arrested Dec. 23 and Bukowski was booked into jail Dec. 27 for their alleged roles in the Dec. 21 shooting that left at least three Kalispell homes riddled with bullet holes.

Simpson told Judge Wilson in January he believed further police investigation would reduce Ingraham’s culpability in the offense.

According to court documents, Kalispell Police received a report of “shots fired” at 12:08 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, near a duplex on Seventh Avenue West in Kalispell. It was later reported that two other residences on Sunnyside Drive and Ashley Creek Lane were shot several times.

Reportedly, a large SUV passed by and its occupants shot the homes, court documents allege. Numerous bullet holes were found in the residences, as well as bullets, and more than 20 casings were found in the street. Based on the evidence, police suspect both a 9 mm and .45-caliber weapon were used in the crime.

Police said one bullet passed through a wall a few feet from a sleeping child.

During the investigation, police learned that Ingraham allegedly had threatened a person who lives in the targeted duplex on Seventh Avenue over an ongoing dispute, telling that person that he would “get what was coming to him.”

Ingraham was arrested Dec. 23 at a home on West Cottonwood Drive in Evergreen.