Suspect charged with assault in car ramming

The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell Police Monday morning arrested a man who allegedly rammed a woman's car twice, nearly pinning her between her vehicle and his.

Kenneth Rufenach, 33, is jailed on felony charges of assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment, along with resisting arrest and his third DUI.

Detective Lt. Roger Nasset said Rufenach had been ejected from the Gold Bar casino for causing a disturbance and making unwelcome advances to employees. He returned, refused to accept a taxi ride, and went out to his truck at about 12:30 a.m.

Nasset said a woman drove into the parking lot and noticed Rufenach revving his truck engine. He slammed into her driver's door as she was getting out. She managed to slip back into her car, her purse wedged in the door. Nasset said Rufenach backed up his truck and again crashed it into the woman's car.

"She had never seen him before," Nasset said.

Someone called police who arrived to find Rufenach running away. He was hit with a Taser jolt and was taken into custody. He went to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

The woman was unhurt, but terrified, Nasset said.

"She was afraid he was going to chop off her legs," he said.

"We don't know what [Rufenach's] motive was or the rationale for doing what he did."

The woman's car sustained several thousand dollars' worth of damage, Nasset said, and her purse is still lodged in the door.

"She was definitely in the wrong place in the wrong time. It could have happened to be anybody who drove into that parking lot," he said.