Man sentenced for attacking homeowner
by PERRY BACKUS - Ravalli Republic
Michael Lee Thompson could just as easily have been dead.
Instead, the 30-year-old Corvallis man spent Wednesday in front of a judge for sentencing on charges he attacked a man and chased him inside his home last June. The attack stopped after the homeowner picked up a pistol and told him to get out.
Ravalli County Chief Prosecutor Geoff Mahar said the homeowner was scared to death.
“Mr. Thompson may not have been here today but for the lack of a couple of pounds (of pressure) on a trigger,” Mahar told Ravalli County Judge Jeffrey Langton.
Later in the sentencing hearing, Langton told Thompson there wasn’t a jury in the land that would have convicted the homeowner had he pulled the trigger.
Thompson’s rampage happened the evening of June 5, according to court documents.
It apparently began after he discovered someone had stolen something from him. Thompson decided he was going to find the thief and started roaring around the side streets in Corvallis in his car at about 6 p.m.
After a homeowner yelled several times at Thompson to slow down, Thompson slammed on his brakes and attacked the man in his front yard. The man attempted to call 911, but Thompson slapped the phone out of his hands. When he attempted to flee inside his home, Thompson followed.
The homeowner pulled out a pistol and told him to get out of his house.
Thompson was arrested outside the man’s home.
After providing an intoxilyzer sample that measured his blood alcohol level at .147, Thompson became combative at the detention center. He punched one officer repeatedly and broke the wristwatch of another.
On Wednesday, Thompson was sentenced on felony charges of felony burglary and criminal endangerment and a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol.
He pleaded guilty earlier this year to the charges.
Thompson apologized to Langton and to the community for his actions that night. He said he was turning his life around at Victor’s Isaac’s House and asked for a chance to continue there.
Considering the unprovoked nature of the attack and Thompson’s lengthy criminal history, Langton said Thompson required a level of security beyond that offered by a community supervised program.
Langton sentenced Thompson to a 10 year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections with five suspended and a fine of $300.
Editor Perry Backus can be reached at 363-3300 or editor@ravallirepublic.com.
Reader's Comments >>
Good Ol Beer wrote on Jan 3, 2010 6:38 PM:
This last fall we made it iligale to smoke in bars in the name of public safty
I don't know how many people have been killed by someone having one to many smokes than driving home.
so we outlaw smokes that dont kill except the one smokein and allow beer to be advertized all over the super bowel ext. and sold so people can get off when they kill some tennage girls with an excuse of well i was drunk
I think we got this one back wards
Beer causes far more tax dollars to be spent and safty concerns than smokes ever could do the math (I don't smoke)
just a crazy fact "
Hmmmm wrote on Jan 1, 2010 10:01 AM:
tom wrote on Dec 30, 2009 10:23 PM: