Man accused of knife assault on Rails to Trails

Virgil Antoine Phillips is no stranger to the criminal justice system in the Flathead Valley.

The most recent incident he is allegedly involved in left him in jail and a local man wounded from a knife attack. It’s the third alleged offense involving a knife.

Phillips, 24, is currently lodged in the Flathead County Detention Center on $50,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint charging him with assault with a weapon, Kalispell police officer Quinton Fowler reported the victim called police at 2:13 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, and said a man was trying to kill him with a knife. The officer reported to the intersection of Appleway Drive and North Meridian where he saw the victim bleeding from the hand.

The man who was cut pointed toward the Rails to Trails system and identified Phillips as the man who cut him with a knife. Officer Fowler ordered Phillips to throw his knife away, which he did, according to the charging document. Phillips was arrested and officer Fowler also spoke with a witness who lives on Appleway Drive. The witness said she saw Phillips attempt to stab another man with a knife.

Fowler collected the knife and the victim was treated at Logan Health Kalispell for his injuries.

Phillips faces a maximum term of 20 years in the Montana State Prison. His arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 24.

The latest incident is the fifth time Phillips has been charged with a felony in Flathead County since 2018. In the first four cases, two resulted in convictions, one where he was found not guilty and another where the charges were dismissed.

In August 2020, Phillips was accused of chasing another man with a knife on Second Avenue East, then wielding it before he was arrested. The charging document reported he lunged at a detention officer after his arrest.

Phillips and his public defender William Managhan intended to argue self defense in the case, but Phillips ultimately pleaded guilty to criminal endangerment and received a three-year deferred sentence.

Phillips was prohibited from owning a weapon and ordered to complete an anger management program as well as participate in a sobriety and drug management program.

In a second case from June 2020, Phillips was accused of approaching a group of people outside a church on Second Avenue East, asking for a lighter, then taking a swing at one of the group after being told no one had a lighter. After a Kalispell police officer found Phillips and arrested him, he allegedly kicked the officer after being taken to the jail.

A few weeks later, a felony charge of assault of a police officer was dismissed after Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner wrote in a court document that “the interests of justice would be best served by the prosecution of this matter upon lesser charges in the Municipal Court of the City of Kalispell.”

In another case in January 2019, a man said he was walking through Woodland Park when Phillips allegedly slashed him with a knife, injuring his cheek and right index finger.

In May 2019, Phillips was accepted into a substance use disorder program at Glacier Hope Homes in Columbia Falls.

Phillips and his public defender William Managhan intended to argue self defense in the case. In a jury trial in August 2019, Phillips was found not guilty.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 406-758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.