Ask the Deputy
Missoula County officers arrested a 44-year-old homicide suspect after she stopped for gas at Clearwater Junction. Officers found Pamela Jean Courtnage, and the vehicle she had stolen, over Memorial Day weekend.
“Ultimately we got her without a struggle,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Sunderland, one of the officers that found the truck sitting at the gas pump.
Courtnage was charged with deliberate homicide and theft and has been returned to Great Falls for trial.
An incident at the group campsite west of the Clearwater River off of Highway 200 led to the arrest of a Missoula man. According to Sunderland, the man was intoxicated and tried to fight other campers. He pulled a knife on a camper but his girlfriend took it away before he could use it. After attempting to start a fight anyway, a sober camper spoke up that no one wanted to fight, that they were all just there to have fun. The man then allegedly pulled a .40 caliber handgun from his vehicle and fired a round towards the campground. He has been charged with three counts of criminal endangerment and assault with a weapon.
Around 50 citations were issued over the Memorial Day weekend, mostly for speeding violations. Three highway patrol joined the local deputies patrolling Highway 83 as people left Seeley Lake.
Sunderland said the majority of the speeding tickets he writes are for people from Helena or Kalispell that are just passing through.
“It’s not the local people that are flying through town,” said Sunderland. “It gets frustrating.”
Sunderland would like to remind folks to adhere to the speed regulations in the construction zone north of Seeley Lake.
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