Missoula Man Charged with Assault with Weapon and Robbery
33 year-old Solomon Bjorlie-Flaten was in the Missoula County Jail on $100,000 bail on Tuesday after allegedly attempting to shoot a man several times with a pistol that misfired, and then fought with the victim further injuring him.
At his Missoula Justice Court appearance on Tuesday, Deputy Missoula County Attorney Meghann Paddock addressed Judge Landee Holloway.
“In this case the court previously issued an arrest warrant on which the defendant was picked up,” said Paddock. “The underlying offense alleged that the defendant asked someone to give him a ride and offered to pay him thirty dollars, but when they got to where the ride was taking him the defendant pulled a gun and demanded the driver’s money and pulled the trigger several times but nothing happened.”
Paddock continued with her narrative of the incident..
“The victim fought with him after he pulled the gun and sustained injuries to his face,” she said. “I would further advise the court that the investigation is ongoing, but the state believes that bail is appropriately set. I have a note stating that we are OK with an OR release to pretrial supervision and that he be ordered to have no contact with the victim and prohibited from having access to or possessing any weapons.”
Judge Holloway ordered that Bjorlie-Flaten be released directly to pretrial supervision, however, as of 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, he was still being held in the jail on $100,000 bail.