Kidnap suspect pleads innocent

The man charged with kidnapping and criminal endangerment after a six-hour standoff at a Kalispell motel on New Year’s Eve pleaded innocent to those charges Thursday in Flathead County District Court.

Thomas Mulligan, 36, is being held in the Flathead County Detention Center with bail set at $150,000.

He was arrested Dec. 31 after the Kalispell Police Department SWAT team stormed his Super 8 motel room at about 4:50 p.m. and found him barricaded inside a bathroom with a 17-year-old boy.

Mulligan, who has previous convictions of theft, burglary and kidnapping, initially was being pursued because of an alleged parole violation in Oregon.

Police said he met the youth on the Internet and that the two were traveling in a vehicle reported stolen in Filer, Idaho.

Mulligan allegedly threatened to kill himself and the youth when Kalispell police officers came to his room after locating the stolen vehicle in the parking lot.

Officers in the hallway heard the youth ask to be released or for Mulligan to open the door, according to court documents, but Mulligan allegedly continued to threaten to kill himself and the boy rather than go to jail.

An eight-man SWAT team eventually used a battering ram to gain access to the room and threw three flash-bang devices to distract Mulligan and take him into custody.

Mulligan’s claim that he had a firearm was deemed unfounded after investigators found no guns in the room.

The boy, who is not named in court documents, initially was placed in protective custody, but has since been returned to his legal guardian in Idaho.

Mulligan is facing local charges before possible extradition to Oregon, Idaho or any other jurisdiction where he may face additional charges, according to the Flathead County Attorney’s Office.

The two charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $50,000.

The case is tentatively scheduled to go to trial July 11.