Lincoln man arrested for felony assault, probation violations

Lewis and Clark County deputies arrested a Lincoln man on a parole violation Wednesday, April 18, just a day after he bonded out of jail for a felony arrest on April 16.

Deputies arrested Michael "Mick" Willey for felony aggravated assault after he allegedly punched a woman in the face several times during an argument.

According to the Probable Cause Affidavit filed by Deputy Jeffery Stoltz, deputies responded to a report of two people involved in an altercation and trying to enter a home that wasn't theirs on Blackfoot River Ranch Road west of Lincoln.

A few minutes later, Lincoln Ambulance responded to a neighboring residence on Cyr Road where a woman, identified as Willey's "significant other," reported she had slipped on the ice and injured her face. She later told EMTs she had been punched in the face several times.

Stoltz's affidavit indicated the area of the victim's right cheekbone was concaved and her eye had swollen shut. Ambulance personnel believed her injuries included a fractured skull, cracked orbital bone and a broken jaw.

The victim was taken to Benefis Hospital in Great Falls for treatment of her injuries and has since been released.

A Montana Highway Patrol Trooper who also responded to the scene located Willey as he was driving away from the area and detained him until deputies arrived.

According to the affidavit, Willey said he and the woman were involved in an argument, which prompted her to leave to go to a neighbor's house. Willey claimed he followed the woman and tried to hug her outside the neighbor's home, but that she pushed him away and told him to leave. He claimed she later called him and told him she slipped and fell.

In addition to aggravated assault, deputies also charged Willey with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, misdemeanor possession of dangerous drugs and misdemeanor violation of a No Contact Order with the victim. He was being held under a $50,000 bond, but bonded out of jail Tuesday, April 17 and returned to Lincoln.

Lincoln Deputy Chris Joyce told the BVD that Willey, who he said was on probation for a felony criminal endangerment charge, stemming from a June 2017 incident involving the same woman, he was arrested again on April 18 on a warrant for a petition to revoke his probation.

His bond for that arrest has been set at $50,000. At press time, Willey remained incarcerated at the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center.