Fugitive from Plains arrested in Flathead County
Mitchell Bear Raymond, of Plains, appeared in Flathead County District Court last week. Raymond is accused of bail jumping and theft. Raymond is also facing drug charges in Sanders County and theft charges in Lake, Lincoln and Missoula counties. (Scott Shindledecker/Valley Press)
A Northwest Montana man with warrants for his arrest in six different counties finally may answer to charges against him.
Mitchell Bear Raymond, 25, of Plains, was arrested by agents with the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force and booked into the Flathead County Detention Center Wednesday, Feb. 3. His bail is set at $310,520. The dollar figure is a total for the various warrants.
Raymond made his initial appearance in Flathead County District Court Thursday on felony theft and bail-jumping charges.
Public defender Liam Gallagher asked District Judge Heidi Ulbricht for Raymond to be released on his own recognizance, but deputy county attorney Stacy Boman disagreed.
“We’ve had quite a bit of trouble getting Mr. Raymond to show up for his scheduled court appearances,” Boman noted.
When Ulbricht asked Raymond where he expected to live in the near future, he said in the Flathead County jail.
Raymond has a pretrial conference set for March 10 and a jury trial for April 19. His arraignment on bail-jumping charges is set for Feb. 18.
Raymond has been on law enforcement’s radar particularly since he led Sanders County officers on a high speed chase in November 2020.
According to information from the Plains Police Department, an officer tried to stop a vehicle driven by Raymond. He allegedly fled and the chase reached speeds of 90 miles per hour on Upper Lynch Creek Road before ending on Little Thompson River Road.
A passenger In the vehicle was captured, but Raymond escaped.
A social media post by Plains Police said Raymond was considered to be armed and dangerous.
According to Sanders County court officials, Raymond is facing three felony counts, including possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute, possession of dangerous drugs and obstruction of justice.
In Flathead County, Raymond was charged with felony theft after he wrote in a letter to a friend saying he had items from a burglary in Bigfork. Another Flathead Valley man, Andrew Kruse, is accused of the same burglary. He is scheduled to stand trial later this year.
Raymond was scheduled to stand trial Jan. 13, but he didn’t appear and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was also charged with bail-jumping.
According to court documents, Raymond was released on his own recognizance March 19, 2020.
In Lake County, Raymond was reported to be one of five co-defendants involved in a series of home burglaries and storage units in 2018. Two of his co-defendants, Eugene Thomas Germain and Brandon Tollie, were sentenced to lengthy state prison terms.
A July 2020 story in the Valley Journal reported a search warrant was served at Raymond’s home in 2019 which revealed several stolen items which were being investigated by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
In Missoula County, court officials there said Raymond was charged with felony theft of items valued at more than $5,000.