Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
State District Court in Havre entered pleas of not guilty for Carlos David Moreno of Rocky Boy, born in 1981, when he was arraigned Thursday on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges including assault, with a weapon and assaulting a police officer. Moreno was charged after Havre police officers reported that Saturday they had responded to a call where they found two victims of assault and they arrested him after a struggle including his attempt to stab an officer with a piece of broken glass. Moreno was hospitalized for various injuries including a reported severed artery in his arm, apparently incurred while he was struggling with one of the victims over a knife. Moreno’s attorney, James Spangelo, told District Judge David Rice Thursday that he had questions about his client’s ability to enter pleas. Rice entered the not guilty pleas on behalf of Moreno, on felony charges of two counts of assaulting a peace officer, assault with a weapon and attempted assault with a weapon, all felonies, and misdemeanor charges of partner or family member assault, assault and resisting arrest. Those charges were amended Thursday from the original charges. A second count of assault with a weapon was amended to attempted assault with a weapon and one count of assault amended to partner or family member assault. Hill County Attorney Gina Dahl informed the court that Moreno was conditionally released from a pre-release program of the Montana Department of Corrections and would be returned to DOC’s custody. Rice ordered that Moreno could appear for the omnibus scheduled Dec. 19, where hearings and a trial are typically scheduled, via video conference from wherever he is detained at that time. According to a court document, Havre Police officers Nicholas Ost and Derek Mahlum responded to a call Saturday at 11:18 p.m. from a residence on 7th Avenue where they found an injured man sitting outside. The officers forced entry into the building after no one responded to their request for entry, then Found Moreno struggling with a woman in a bedroom, the document said. The of f icers eventual ly removed the woman, who had injuries to her face and a stab wound in her back, after one officer tackled Moreno and restrained him on the floor, the document said. According to the document, Moreno put up an extensive struggle, with the officers attempting to restrain him including using pepper spray and their batons. Moreno at one point threw a set of window blinds at Ost and also stabbed Mahlum with a piece of broken glass. The document said that if Mahlum had not been wearing a bullet-proof vest the stab likely would have caused serious injuries.
