Shooting incidents lead to several area arrests

LAKE COUNTY - Two separate shooting incidents in Polson and Pablo resulted in the arrests of two area men.

Last Thursday morning, a Lake County Sheriff's Deputy and the Polson Police Department responded to a call of shots fired in the Rolfson Addition of Polson, PPD Chief Doug Chase said.

"It certainly woke up the neighborhood, to say the least," Chase said.

Complaints came in from around town, Chase said, of several suspected gunshots. LCSO Deputy Dan Duryee was first on the scene and apprehended the suspect, Vicente LaRoche, just after 3 a.m. Chase said LaRoche was allegedly standing on the second floor deck of an apartment complex, shooting into the air and at least once into the parking lot.

The incident may have stemmed from an earlier altercation in downtown Polson. Chase said that a PPD officer had contacted the suspect downtown about 45 minutes prior concerning what LaRoche described as verbal harassment from a group of men.

LaRoche was found with a .223 Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle. The large assault rifle was extremely loud in the middle of the night, Chase said.

"Residents in several parts of town a fair distance away called in reporting what they felt were gunshots," Chase said.

In a separate incident Sunday morning, a man was arrested for criminal endangerment, a felony, after shots were allegedly fired in Pablo.

LCSO Undersheriff Jay Doyle said reports of nine shots fired in "rapid succession" on or near Warbler Lane in Pablo resulted in a response by Sheriff's deputies. On scene, the deputies detained suspect Joseph Elthie, 28. Witnesses stated that Elthie punched another man in the face before retrieving a .40 caliber semi automatic handgun and firing "five or more shots" in the air. Elthie was arrested and booked into Lake County Jail.