Man charged with spitting on policeman

A 27-year-old Kalispell man arrested for allegedly kicking in the door of a neighbor’s apartment and demanding the residents turn their television’s volume down has now been charged with spitting on a responding police officer.

Erik Lynn McQueen was arrested Tuesday on Glenwood Drive. The Flathead County Attorney’s Office on Thursday charged him with felony burglary and three misdemeanors — criminal mischief, assault and assault with bodily fluids.

He’s currently being held at the Flathead County Detention Center with bail set at $50,000.

According to court documents, Kalispell Police Department officers responded to Glenwood Drive after a report of a burglary.

When they arrived, three men told them that McQueen, their neighbor, had kicked in the front door of their apartment and threatened to beat them up “if they did not turn down the volume of their television.”

Two of the men picked up shotguns and McQueen left the apartment, according to court documents.

McQueen allegedly refused to come to the door when officers attempted to contact him. After being granted a warrant, officers entered the residence and took him into custody “after being forced to Tase him several times because he refused to comply with arrest instructions,” according to court documents.

As he was being lifted from the floor, he allegedly spit in the face of one of the officers.

McQueen has previous convictions for criminal mischief, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, obstructing and felony parole violations.

The maximum penalty for felony burglary is a 20-year sentence in Montana State Prison and a fine of $50,000. Misdemeanor assault and criminal mischief convictions each carry the possibility of six-month jail sentences while assault with bodily fluids is punishable by up to a year in jail.

Reporter Eric Schwartz may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at eschwartz@dailyinterlake.com.