Libby man arrested after chaining clinic door

Bret J. Bachteler was arrested May 14 at his residence in Libby and charged with criminal mischief, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and obstructing health care facility access.

Bachteler reportedly contacted another, un-named, individual at approximately 7 p.m. Bachteler told the individual he was at the Libby Clinic and the clinic was refusing to give him pain medication, forcing him to self-medicate using illegal drugs. The reporting party indicated Bachteler sounded as if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Deputy Nate Scofield of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to the reporting party at approximately 7:45 p.m. The reporting party told Scofield that Bachteler had threatened to prevent the Libby Clinic from seeing patients the following morning.

The reporting party contacted Scofield again at 8:40 p.m. and reported Bachteler had contacted him once again, informing him he had chained up the front door of the clinic. Scofield investigated the scene and discovered a chain wrapped through the front door handles and locked with a padlock.

According to Scofield’s affidavit, he then contacted appropriate personnel at the Libby Clinic and was informed they wished to file charges.

“I met with a person responsible for the Libby Clinic. She wanted to press charges against Bachteler for his actions,” Scofield wrote in the document.

Noting Bachteler’s history of drug abuse and a conviction for assaulting a police officer, Scofield requested back-up before making contact with Bachteler. Deputy Boyd White, Sergeant Brandon Holzer and Libby Police Officer John Powell joined Scofield and went to Bachteler’s residence.

The officers found Bachteler outside his residence seemingly intoxicated.

“Bachteler appeared to be extremely intoxicated,” Scofield wrote. “I could smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and person. Bachteler was not making very good sense of what he was trying to tell me.”

Bachteler insisted he was not going to be stopped from causing problems at the clinic, despite attempts by law enforcement to reason with him. On that basis as well as his intoxication and previous history of violence, Scofield made the decision to arrest him.

“Due to the following reasons, I decided the best course of action was to arrest Bachteler and prevent further crimes from happening and to protect the safety and welfare of the public…” Scofield wrote.

Bachteler reportedly resisted the officers’ attempts to handcuff and place him in the car, as well as fighting with detention staff at the jail while being processed. Scofield said he made several aggressive lunges at himself and other officers as well as screamed profanities at law enforcement officers.

Bachteler’s violent history includes a five-year stint in the Montana State Prison for assaulting a police officer on June 17, 2002. He was sentenced April 26, 2004 by Judge Prezeau in District Court, but the conviction has expired. He is registered with the Montana Sexual and Violent Offender Registry.

Bachteler is being held in the Lincoln County jail on $3,500 bond.