Man with violent criminal history was back on streets, then subject of standoff

By DERRICK PERKINS

For the Hungry Horse News

Prosecutors say the local man arrested following a May 10 standoff on Liberty Street in Kalispell strangled his girlfriend and stole her car in the days leading up to the confrontation with law enforcement.

Aaron Martin McGarry, 34, faces felony theft and strangulation of a partner or family member charges in Flathead County District Court. He is currently in the county jail. His arraignment is set for May 19.

McGarry has a vile criminal history in Columbia Falls as well.

In 2019, he pleaded guilty to felony criminal endangerment, earning a partially suspended 10-year sentence with the state Department of Corrections. According to court documents, McGarry was initially charged with assault with a weapon for shocking the mother of his children with a stun gun during an argument in her Columbia Falls home.

Dispatchers at the time reported hearing her begging McGarry to let her go as she called 911.

This time, according to newly filed court documents, Kalispell Police officers responded to a domestic disturbance call involving McGarry’s significant other about 10:08 a.m., May 9. She told investigators that an argument between the couple in her car turned violent.

McGarry, who was driving, allegedly placed his arm on her neck and applied full force. The victim told officers she believed he was trying to kill her.

Unable to breathe, she hit McGarry in the face and left the Nissan Maxima, court documents said. After she got out, he drove off with her car, which was valued at about $3,000. Investigators later recovered the Maxima under a tarp on a property in Whitefish.

A tip concerning McGarry’s whereabouts led officers to the Sunridge Apartments complex on May 10. Owing to McGarry’s criminal history, among other pieces of information turned up during the investigation, authorities opted to call in the regional SWAT.

During his 2020 sentencing on the Columbia Falls incident, McGarry’s mother testified that her son was a good person, but suffered from mental and drug abuse issues. Even she was appalled, though, when District Judge Robert Allison read aloud the threats McGarry made against a detention center officer while in jail. McGarry allegedly said he would cut the individual’s throat once he got out.

Describing McGarry’s threats as “absolutely unforgivable” and “depraved garbage,” Allison noted that he was unable to hand down a tougher sentence owing to state guidelines. He also criticized the county attorney’s office for seeking a plea deal in the case.

“I want to apologize to the detention officers that I’m not sentencing you to prison today,” Allison said as he handed down the sentence.

On May 10, authorities engaged in a roughly three-and-a-half hour standoff with McGarry in the apartment complex. At one point, he got out onto the roof of the building and shouted at the officers in tactical gear below.

Officials credited crisis negotiators with resolving the impasse. McGarry was arrested without further incident, they said in a press release.