Man who fired at moving car: 'It was being used as a weapon'
<p>Daniel Montgomery of Coeur d'Alene is photographed on Tuesday on Kaleigh Court in Coeur d'Alene, where he shot five handgun rounds into a vehicle earlier this year. Montgomery feared for his life, the safety of his family and the lives of others on the street the driver of the vehicle drove recklessly down the street and around a cul-de-sac, almost hitting Montgomery after he confronted the driver.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE — Daniel N. Montgomery, an active-duty U.S. Marine in the 1990s, fired several rounds from his handgun into a car driving on his street to protect himself, his daughter, and his neighbors.
That's his side of the story.
He spoke to The Press this week after a 1st District Court jury in Kootenai County found him guilty of a felony count of unlawful discharge of a gun into an occupied vehicle. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 29 by Judge Cynthia Meyer. He was acquitted on a charge of felony aggravated assault from the September 2014 incident, and another similar charge was dismissed because a witness was uncooperative.
"We will assess and make a decision on a sentencing recommendation after the presentence investigation report is received," Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said Tuesday.
Montgomery plans to appeal the conviction.
"When I discharged the weapon at the vehicle it was not being used as a vehicle, it was being used as a weapon," said Montgomery, 40, of Coeur d'Alene. "It was being used as a weapon to assault people who were in the street."
Immediately after the incident, The Press reported that Montgomery fired his gun at the vehicle for driving recklessly through his neighborhood. Police responded to a report of gunfire in the 1300 block of Kaleigh Court. No one was injured.
Investigators concluded that Montgomery tried to stop a reckless driver by pointing his handgun at the car. As the driver attempted to flee, investigators said, Montgomery shot multiple rounds at the car as it drove away. Montgomery was arrested and booked into Kootenai County jail.
Montgomery came forward to speak about the incident because he didn't get to publicly tell his side of the story before.
Montgomery, who lives on the cul-de-sac, said he was working on his car in his driveway on the night of the incident.
"I heard screeching tires, I heard crashing noises, I looked enough to see headlights going all over the place," he said. "I heard people scream, I looked over, I saw people running."
He stepped into the roadway to confront the driver and drew his pistol.
"They kept coming," eventually pulling up to him in the street and stopping, he said.
Eventually the driver got out, and there was discussion about calling the police, he said.
The driver returned to the vehicle, he said, and the car started rolling toward Montgomery again.
"Finally, I said, 'If you roll the car up on me one more time, I'm going to blow your (expletive) head off,'" Montgomery said.
He tried to get out of the way and decided to "disable" the vehicle, firing a first round into the engine compartment. It didn't stop the car, which kept heading down the street.
The car, Montgomery said, was steered toward other people on the block when he fired more shots at it.
"I shot a total of five times," he said. Three shots were in the area of a tire.
The driver of the vehicle turned out to be someone who lived across the street from Montgomery. Neither the driver nor the passenger were charged in relation to the incident.