Gardipe pleads not guilty in machete incident
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POLSON — A Big Arm man is accused of threatening two people with a machete in Pablo this past July. Junior Gardipe, 33, entered a plea of not guilty at District Court in Polson Sept. 15 to two counts of assault with a weapon and attempted robbery, all felonies.
According to court records, on July 29, law enforcement took a report of a person wielding a machete at two people on O’brien Road in Pablo. At the scene, the two alleged victims told responding law enforcement that their assailant, later identified as Gardipe, showed up at their driveway asking for gas. The two said they helped Gardipe and Gardipe left. They say Gardipe returned a short time later swinging a machete and saying they owed him money. The two alleged victims said they started throwing rocks at Gardipe. One of the rocks hit Gardipe knocking him to the ground and the two people were able to take the machete away. A third person witnessed the incident and corroborated the alleged victims’ story to law enforcement.
Gardipe was facing two counts of assault with a weapon in Lake County for allegedly wielding a machete at two people on Powwow Road in Arlee on Nov. 26, 2019. That case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the state could re-file the charges.
Judge James Manley set this most recent case for trial Feb. 14. Gardipe is at liberty until a pre-trial hearing set for Jan. 12.
