Man arrested in alleged knife assault in St. Regis

A man faces charges in Mineral County after authorities accused him of threatening two men with a knife recently at a travel center in St. Regis.

Loren Dean BirdRattler, 49, was charged with felony charge of assault with a weapon, and two misdemeanors, criminal trespass and reckless driving.

According to Walter C. Fleming, the department head and professor of Native American Studies at Montana State University, BirdRattler’s contract with the university ends with the fiscal year, on June 30. The position will not be filled for the coming fiscal year, due to funding constraints, Fleming wrote in an email.

According to a 2019 news release from MSU, BirdRattler was appointed the university’s Katz Endowed Chair in Native American Studies.

According to charging documents, at about 2:40 a.m. Wednesday, June 2, a county Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to the St. Regis Travel Center for a report of an alleged attempted stabbing.

The deputy saw a vehicle matching the description of one being driven by BirdRattler in the rear parking lot of the Travel Center. After ordering the man to get out of the vehicle, the deputy found a knife in a leather sheath on BirdRattler’s left hip during a pat down search. BirdRattler also reported having a pocket knife in his front pants pocket.

The officer then spoke with the older of the two men at the scene, and the man stated he and his family had stopped to fuel up. His 19-year-old son was driving another car and was approached by BirdRattler, whom they did not know, according to the court document.

The man heard BirdRattler say to his son “Are you (profanity) with me?” The man said BirdRattler was only about 4 feet from his son so the father walked over to see what was happening. The man said BirdRattler continued to make provoking and challenging statements to both him and his son and then he allegedly pulled a knife. He described the knife as having red or orange coloring and a decorative photo on it and that BirdRattler held it toward them with his right hand.

After another exchange of words, BirdRattler walked back toward his vehicle and the father was concerned he was going to retrieve a firearm or another weapon and expressed fear for his son and his safety. The father also reported hearing BirdRattler allegedly say he would kill him or both of them as he was leaving.

An employee at the travel center became aware something was wrong when the father and son came into the convenience store and called 911.

The employee saw a silver Chevy Malibu accelerate quickly and leave the parking lot at a high rate of speed, estimating the driver was traveling at about 50 miles per hour.

Later on Wednesday, at about 5 p.m., a woman approached the deputy at a local business and reported that earlier that morning, at about 2 a.m., a man came to the camper in which she was living with her children and banged on the door with such force that it woke her children and her.

She looked outside and did not recognize the man, but described the vehicle the man had driven onto the property.

The man remained on the property without permission and then banged on the wall of the camper, causing damage. The deputy later confirmed the man was BirdRattler.

Online court records indicate BirdRattler faced two counts of criminal trespass in Spokane County in Washington in 2015. According to other online records, BirdRattler had a warrant for his arrest in Great Falls April 30, 2021, in relation to a 2015 case.