Troy man accused of threatening officers, harassing 911 dispatchers

It’s been about a decade since Dan J. Savage Jr. was making headlines in Lincoln County for some of his run-ins with the law.

The 47-year-old man from Troy is facing new charges after some alleged incidents earlier this year, allegedly occurring between Jan. 19 and Feb. 11.

Savage was most recently in district court June 17 for a hearing to determine the length of a possible trial. County attorney Marcia Boris and public defender Scott B. Johnson agreed two days would be sufficient.

May 20, Savage was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to multiple counts, including felony intimidation. He is also facing misdemeanor charges of obstructing a peace officer, making false reports to law enforcement and violating privacy in communications.

The intimidation charge carries the most severe penalty for a conviction - 10 years in the Montana State Prison.

According to the supplemental narrative by county deputy Derek Breiland, a 911 dispatcher informed him that Savage had called and texted 911 continuously throughout the night of Jan. 19. The dispatcher said Savage made false reports, was disrespectful to dispatchers and abused the 911 system.

According to Breiland’s report, Savage wanted to file a theft report for a cell phone he said was stolen from him 10 years ago by the county sheriff’s office. The deputy said Savage reported the incident on June 4 to Troy police officer Michael Miller while Breiland assisted. 

Breiland said Miller found Savage’s report to be unfounded because the phone Savage referred to was seized as evidence in a criminal case in 2012. After being informed of the reason for the seizure, Savage still wanted an investigation.

Savage was first charged with partner or family member assault and then witness tampering, stalking and criminal mischief. He was found not guilty of those charges during a jury trial in January 2013.

In the current case, dispatchers asked Savage to stop calling the emergency line and instead, call the administrative line. A dispatcher told deputy Breiland that one text to 911 call session lasted 26 minutes.

Authorities allege Savage’s next text to 911 sessions began at 7:22 a.m. Jan. 22 and ended at 4 p.m. later that day. Savage was arrested Feb. 9 after a warrant was issued by the county attorney’s office. He was released at midnight Feb. 10, according to the charging document. Feb. 11, Savage allegedly began texting 911 again at 2:47 a.m. There were eight text sessions that stopped at 3:51 p.m.

Dispatchers reported tending to actual emergency calls while Savage allegedly continued to call and text 911.

According to the charging document, some of the calls and messages included threats to law officers if they set foot on his property. In some of the text messages Savage allegedly sent to 911, profanity and vulgar language was used.

One read, “Next time a county mounty sets foot on my property, he will not step away. That’s not a threat, that’s the truth.”

In another tex message, Savage wrote, “Thank you for destroying pictures of my children at Christmas. Thank you for believing that you are doing the right thing…pedophile’s and all!”

In another message, he wrote, “It is still an emergency…. I need the pictures off my phone! We need them!”

One 911 dispatcher replied to Savage, “Sir, we will have an officer contact you. This is not a life threatening emergency. Please stop texting 911 as this line needs to be left open for actual emergencies.”

Savage has faced multiple domestic assault charges in the past. 

In August 2013, Savage was charged with assaulting a woman he was dating. He pleaded guilty to that offense and received a 3-year suspended sentence in January 2014.

In July 2014, Savage was charged again with partner of family member assault and pleaded not guilty.

Savage was also a victim of a savage beating by two men outside the Troy VFW in January 2012. 

According to previous reporting in The Western News, Savage was charged for felony partner or family-member assault in 2010. The charge was dismissed without prejudice on Sept. 10, 2010, by the Justice Court of Lincoln County.

In December 2008, Savage pleaded no contest to partner or family-member assault.