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Two men admit to threatening juveniles

by Jeff Smith/For the Leader
| February 22, 2024 12:00 AM

Two men have admitted threatening juveniles with a firearm in an altercation that culminated in a pursuit with law enforcement. Izayus Prewett, 18, and Nathan Videl Caye, 22, each entered into plea agreements on separate charges.

Prewett pleaded guilty in Polson District Court Feb. 1 to three counts of felony assault with a weapon. His plea agreement calls for a seven-year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections, with six years suspended.

Caye pleaded guilty in Polson District Court Feb. 14 to criminal endangerment. The plea agreement recommends a total of 13 years with the DOC, with eight years suspended, which includes time for violating terms of a sentence in a separate matter.

According to court records, on Aug. 26, 2023, Caye was driving a white Chevy Silverado pick-up truck on Polson’s Main Street. A Polson Police officer observed the white truck pull out from an “unorthodox” parking position and into the opposite lane of traffic, before swerving onto a side street at a high rate of speed.

The officer activated his emergency lights and siren in an attempt to stop the truck. The truck ran through several stop signs before it sideswiped two other vehicles and became disabled. The driver, later identified as Caye, exited the driver’s side and fled on foot.

A noticeably agitated passenger in the truck, later identified as Prewett, exited the passenger side of the truck. Prewett remained near the truck and spoke with the Polson officer, explaining that Caye had left a .38 caliber revolver in the truck. The officer confiscated it along with a 9 mm firearm.

Prewett indicated that prior to the pursuit, Caye had been consuming alcohol. He also said that he and Caye had aimed their firearms at people at some apartments at 509 Main Street. The officer then arrested Prewett for assault with a weapon.

After his Miranda Rights were read to him, Prewett told the officer that he and Caye had been at the Flathead River Rodeo where they confronted the new boyfriend of Prewett’s ex-girlfriend. This led to a physical altercation and Caye and Prewett later went to the Main Street apartments in hopes of reengaging the new boyfriend. Instead, they located three minor girls and brandished their firearms at them.

According to Prewett, Caye fired one warning shot into the air, and they eventually left. The minor girls and one other witness informed another Polson Police officer that Prewett was the one who fired the warning shot into the air.

One of the minor witnesses indicated that Caye attempted to convince Prewett to shoot the ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend and his friends.

Caye was convicted of assault with a weapon for an incident that occurred in front of the Polson VFW on Main Street Nov. 26, 2022. Video shows Caye pointing a handgun at several people involved in a physical altercation.

He was charged with two counts of assault with a weapon in that case and sentenced to the Montana State Prison for 10 years with all but 13 days in the Lake County Jail suspended.

Judge Molly Owen set sentencing for Prewett on March 21 and Caye April 10. Caye is lodged in the Lake County Jail with a bond of $125,000 and Prewett was released on his own recognizance.