By Tim Leeds/Havre Daily News/leeds@havredailynews.com
The Hill County Attorney's Office has filed an assault charge against a Havre taxidermy student accused of threatening another student with a knife.
Carlos P. Galvan, 38, of Weatherville, Calif., was charged Thursday with felony assault with a weapon.
A court document said Galvan threatened another student with a "folding tactical knife typically used by law enforcement." The knife has a 3-inch blade that opens with spring-assisted action in a "'switch blade' type motion," the document said.
The document said two Hill County sheriff's deputies responded Tuesday after a student at the Academy of Realistic Taxidermy north of Havre told a county dispatcher that another student had "pulled a knife on him."
The dispatcher told the deputies that academy owner Steve Faechner had retrieved and loaded a firearm to protect himself from Galvan. Faechner and the other students had locked themselves inside a classroom, while Galvan was pacing out, the document said.
The document said that when the deputies arrived, Galvan, who was not armed, was outside the classroom building. The deputies drew their weapons and arrested Galvan without incident, the document said.
The alleged victim told a deputy that the incident began when Galvan made sarcastic comments about his classmates at the start of class. When the student asked Galvan to stop, Galvan approached him, yelling obscenities, the document said.
Another student restrained Galvan, and Faechner entered the room and took Galvan from the building, trying to calm him down, the document said.
Acting on the advice of Faechner, the alleged victim went to Galvan's room to invite him back to class, the document said.
Galvan told the alleged victim to get out, pulled out the knife and flipped open the blade, according to the document.
Galvan told a deputy he had been sitting on his bed playing with the knife when the alleged victim came in, the document said. Galvan said he asked the other student to leave several times, and that he had been flicking the knife open and shut, but hadn't threatened the other student, the document said.
