Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
Carlos David Moreno of Rocky Boy, born in 1981, was charged in state District Court in Havre with four counts of felony assault and three misdemeanors after he was accused of multiple assaults on Saturday including stabbing a police officer with a piece of glass. Moreno, who recently was released from custody with the state Department of Corrections on a previous felony sentence, was taken to Northern Montana Hospital for treatment of his injuries after the incident. He was listed in stable condition at the hospital this morning. A warrant has been issued for his arrest on the charges at $50,000 bond. An arraignment on the charges had not been scheduled this morning. Moreno has been charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer and two counts of assault with a weapon, all felonies, and two counts of assault and resisting arrest, all misdemeations According to a court document, Havre Police Officer Nicholas Ost responded to a call Saturday, Oct. 18, at 11:18 p.m. from a residence on 7th Avenue requesting help because a man was “bloodying’ everybody up.” When Ost responded, a man outside with blood covering his face said the defendant was inside and was going to beat a woman “up bad.” Ost waited for assistance from Officer Derek Mahlum to arrive, then after the officers could not gain entry they kicked the front door in. After finding the suspect and a woman in a room inside the residence the woman could be heard yelling “stop it,” the document said the officers saw the woman sitting entangled with Moreno, who had a large cut on his arm. The two appeared to be wrestling over some item. Mahlum tackled the suspect, forcing him against the wall and then pinning him to the floor, the document said. The woman who was later found to have been stabbed and was holding a 6-inch steak knife was removed from the room by Ost. Mahlum was beginning to lose his grip while restraining Moreno, the document said, so the he backed off and sprayed the suspect with pepper spray, the document said. As the officers backed out of the room, Moreno got up and swung his fist at Mahlum, the document said. Mahlum attempted to use his baton to restrain Moreno, but that was ineffective, the document said. Mahlum again used the spray, and the suspect began to dig around the room, fumbling with items. At one point he grabbed a set of keys which included what appeared to be a box cutter and dragged them back and forth across his neck, the document said. After Mahlum warned Moreno to drop the knife and get on the ground, the suspect threw the keys at him. He then began to walk toward a window, at which point Mahlum tried to get him back on the ground, the document said. Moreno then stumbled and grabbed a set of blinds on the window, which he threw at the officer,s injuring Ost. Moreno then grabbed a piece of broken glass from the window and tried to cut his own throat, the document said. Mahlum pushed Moreno out of the residence and attempted to restrain him, the document said. At that point Moreno stabbed Mahlum with the glass, pushing through his bulletproof vest and likely would have severely injured him if the vest had not been worn, the document said. At that time, the two officers were able to force Moreno to the ground and restrain him, handcuffing him, the document said. EMTs who had arrived at the scene said a wound on Moreno’s arm appeared to be a cut to an artery, and an officer helped reduce the bleeding while the suspect was loaded on an ambulance to be taken to the hospital. The woman, who also had swelling on her face as well as a puncture wound in her back, said Moreno had just gotten out of prerelease from the DOC and had gone out and gotten drunk, the document said. When he got back he started yelling and got out of control, she said. Both of the witnesses at the scene were transported to the hospital for treatment of their injuries, the document said. Moreno had been sentenced in January to three years with the DOC, with the recommendation he be screened and placed in a prerelease program, after he admitted violating conditions of his release on a suspended sentence for a solicitation to commit burglary offense.
