Eureka man charged with assault, leaving the scene

Girlfriend receives 65 stitches after alleged assault

A Eureka man is being held on $50,000 bond after leaving his girlfriend in need of 65 stitches on her head and crashing into a fence as he fled the scene.

In two separate cases stemming from the same morning, Ronald Allen Dunn, 37, of Eureka, has been charged with partner or family member assault causing bodily injury, obstructing a peace officer, failing to carry proof of insurance, failing to notify owner after an accident and habitual offender operating a motor vehicle. Lincoln County Justice of the Peace Jay Sheffield set his bond at $50,000 on Thursday.

According to court documents, Eureka dispatch first received a call around 3 a.m. on Wednesday about a woman with a wound on her head, drenching her face in blood. The caller told dispatch the woman was running from her boyfriend, identified on the call as Dunn.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputy Daniel Holskey responded to the call, finding the woman with a black eye, cut lip and laceration across her forehead. She told Holskey that Dunn had punched her in the face and knocked her to the floor as she walked out of the bathroom. According to the report, she could only remember Dunn punching her in the face three times.

When the woman ran to the dispatch caller’s house for help, Dunn took off in his pickup but returned after he reportedly ran his pickup into a fence. According to court documents, Dunn told law enforcement officials that his girlfriend had been driving during the time of the wreck.

Eureka ambulance services transported the woman to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where she received 65 stitches on her forehead.

Dunn was at the caller’s home when Holskey arrived and allegedly told the deputy his name was Ron Dievin. He also gave Holskey four incorrect dates of birth, according to the deputy’s report. When Holskey went outside to check the registration on Dunn’s vehicle, Dunn escaped “into the dark.”

Minutes later, Dunn was arrested by Montana Highway Patrol Sergeant Neil A. Duram.

Dunn’s omnibus hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.