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LibbyMt.com > News > February 2009 > Shooting victim arrested on assault charges


. Photo by Kootenai Valley Record.
Shooting victim arrested on assault charges
by Kootenai Valley Record
February 22, 2009

A Libby man shot during a dispute with his brother early on Christmas Day was arrested last week on domestic abuse charges after his girlfriend called 911 and reported that he had thrown her down a set of stairs.

Austin Zugg, 32, pleaded not guilty in justice court Friday to misdemeanor charges of partner/family member assault and was released on his own recognizance. He was arrested Thursday evening at his residence along Highway 2 south of Libby after police responded to his girlfriend’s 911 call.

According to an affidavit filed in justice court by the county deputy who made the arrest, Zugg’s girlfriend said he picked her up and threw her out the front door, and she fell on the steps. The woman had a "severe bruise and abrasion" on her forearm and bruising on her back, and she appeared to be suffering from pain in her ribs, the officer reported.

The deputy spoke with Zugg and reported that his statement was "very vague and appeared to have been made up." He wrote in his affidavit that Zugg told him his girlfriend had come home drunk and assaulted him, and that when she went outside and he closed the door behind her, he heard her fall.

Zugg was shot in the abdomen in the early morning hours of Dec. 25. His brother Kolby Zugg, 35, has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment and was released from jail after his mother posted $16,000 property bond.

According to court documents, the dispatcher at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a man believed to have been Kolby Zugg, who said he needed help, but the call was disconnected before the dispatcher could get more information.

The dispatcher tried unsuccessfully to call back, and three minutes later a second 911 call came in with a woman reporting that a domestic dispute was in progress between two brothers. The caller initially said there were no weapons involved, but later said she had "lied" and that there was a gun involved and that "Kolby shot Austin," according to dispatch records.
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Editor’s Note: See the February 17, 2009 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, now on Tuesday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.


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