Libby man faces assault charges after alleged road rage incident

A 69-year-old Libby man faces four counts of assault with a weapon after allegedly nearly hitting a family on the side of the road in his pickup and backing into a car that was trying to get his license plate number.

Michael Scott Ryan faces up to 20 years in jail and a fine of $50,000 for these alleged actions.

According to court documents, on March 19, a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a call of a driver almost hitting a pedestrian. After talking with the reporting party, the deputy was told that a red Chevy Pickup truck nearly struck a family walking on Vanderwood Road.

The reporting party caught up to the pickup on Hemphill Road to get the license plate number. The Red Chevy pickup in response, put his vehicle in reverse and slammed into the front of the reporting party’s vehicle. In court documents, deputies noted the severe damage, likely caused by a tow hitch.

Deputies then talked to the family that was allegedly almost hit. Two family members told them that that they had stepped as close to the side of the road as possible without stepping into mud to let the Chevy pickup pass. They said that the vehicle was bearing down on them when they looked back, and the driver was flipping them off. One family member slapped the mirror on the passenger side door no more than six to twelve inches in front of them. At this time, the family was walking with their 11-year-old son.

When deputies went to Ryan’s residence, he told authorities that he wanted to file a road rage incident report and that the family was lying. Ryan said that the other vehicle had forced him not to be able to move over. When asked about the vehicle that was backed into, Ryan said the other vehicle had been chasing him, yelling and flipping him off. He said he slammed on his brakes near his property, and the vehicle rear-ended him.

According to court documents, deputies observed Ryan watching them speak with the reporting party when they arrived. They also had a dispatch log that Ryan had called in about the road rage incident 24 minutes after the original reporting party had called. This call by Ryan, according to authorities, was made 14 minutes after deputies had responded to the original call.