Knife attack leads to arrest of Libby man

A 30-year-old Libby man is facing up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine following an altercation in a Libby alley. Khristafer Lee Gentry was arrested by Officer Darren Short of the Libby Police Department July 31 and charged with one felony count of assault with a weapon.

In the affidavit of probable cause, filed the same day, Short reported he was dispatched to the alley near Eighth Street and Mineral Avenue earlier that evening. Upon arrival, Short discovered a man he later identified as Gentry laying unconscious on the ground and bleeding from his mouth and nose.

Gentry woke while Short was checking him for responsiveness while awaiting the ambulance dispatched to the scene. Short said Gentry became aggressive, necessitating restraint.

“I checked his responsiveness and the male, who I later identified as Khristafer Lee Gentry, woke up and responded to me. An ambulance was dispatched to care for Gentry who had become combative and had to be restrained and handcuffed,” Short wrote in his narrative.

During the episode, Short was contacted by Deputy Boyd White of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, who had detained another man south of Short’s location in Libby. The man told White that Gentry had followed him into the alley and “was trying to get him into a fight.”

The man said he tried to walk away, but Gentry pulled a knife on him, so he punched Gentry in the face and knocked him down. He then walked away.

Short investigated the scene and discovered a knife as well as a pair of shorts with a black knife sheath and other personal items. He then spoke with the man who reported the disturbance.

The man told Short he saw the first man walking down the street when Gentry came up quickly behind him on a bicycle. Gentry then reportedly pursued the victim and pulled out the knife. The witness reported the first man tried to get away from Gentry, unsuccessfully, then hit him and knocked him out.

Gentry is being held in the Lincoln County jail on $10,000 bond and is next scheduled to appear in court Sept. 2.