BILLINGS — A Laurel police officer was forced to kill a K-9 police dog on Thursday, November 28, 2024, after attempts to stop it from attacking a man failed.

The dog was later identified as belonging to the Montana Highway Patrol.

Laurel Police Chief Stanley Langve said in a news release the incident was reported shortly after 8 a.m. when the agency received a call of a dog attack in progress in the 800 block of Wyoming Avenue.

An officer arrived and “observed a Belgian Malinois attacking an adult male. The Officer attempted multiple non-lethal methods to stop the attack and was assisted by the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department’s Chief who had arrived with a catch pole,” the news release states.

The officer could not use his firearm to stop the attack without endangering the victim and public, the chief said.

About 15 minutes after arriving on the scene, the officer “was forced to end the attack with two fatal blows to the animal’s head.”

The victim was taken to a hospital by the Laurel Ambulance Service with serious but not life-threatening wounds.

The dog was identified as a Montana Highway Patrol K-9.

The news release does not state if a Montana Highway Patrol trooper was at the scene or why the agency’s dog was attacking the man.

MHP Lieutenant Colonel Kyle Hayter provided this statement to MTN shortly after 2 p.m. on Thursday:

“Our thoughts are with the victim and his family today. We wish him a speedy recovery. The Laurel Police Department is conducting the investigation into the incident. We will also conduct our own internal investigation.”

No other details have been released at this point. We will update you if we get more information.

Jonathan Ambarian

HELENA (KPAX) — Montana leaders have received a federal grant that they say will give them more tools for detecting fraud in applications for public benefits.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is receiving $424,388 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They’ll use it to set up a system that uses technology to identify potentially fraudulent online applications.

“All states across the U.S are reporting an uptick of online fraud, and this is going to give Montana the opportunity to review Montana’s standing with that,” said Heather Smith, DPHHS’ Program Compliance Bureau chief.

The federal grant is focused on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – commonly known as “food stamps.” However, Montana has a single assistance application that covers SNAP, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF program, Medicaid eligibility and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, so the new system will also affect those programs.

DPHHS says some examples of fraud in these programs could include applicants not reporting all members of their household, not reporting their income has increased or continuing to receive benefits after moving out of state.

Smith said the new system will flag indicators that a case may have a high probability of fraud. For example, that would include applications from people living outside Montana and a high number of applications that come from the same computer or use the same phone number.

“Digital transactions are becoming so prevalent in everyday life – you know, everyone seems to have a cell phone, text message, email,” she said. “We’re submitting all sorts of applications and information online, purchasing online, and the digital information is going to be very important for us.”

Smith said the new technology will only tell DPHHS they may need to look further at a case, and they’ll investigate further before taking action. She acknowledged there could be false positives, like someone applying from a relative’s computer or many people using a computer at the library because they don’t have another way to access the internet.

DPHHS will spend the next few months putting together and testing the system, with hopes of implementing it by summer of 2025.

“It will not affect the user at all; they won’t see any different steps,” said Smith. “It’ll just be our ability to capture and utilize that data as it comes in.”

Smith said there is fraud in these programs, though she said she couldn’t give an estimate of how prevalent it is.

“For us, any amount is a high amount,” she said.

She said applying for this grant was part of DPHHS’ commitment to be good stewards of taxpayers’ money.

The department said in a statement announcing the grant that they received 1,528 referrals for potential fraud during the 2024 fiscal year, with the vast majority being for SNAP eligibility.

They said 241 people were disqualified from SNAP for program violations. DPHHS reported 1,625 referrals and 280 SNAP disqualifications in the 2023 fiscal year, and 2,035 referrals and 320 disqualifications in 2022.

BILLINGS — Daniel M. Dreamer of Crow Agency is under federal investigation after pleading guilty to killing his aunt and assaulting his grandmother as she tried to stop the attack this week, according to tribal authorities.

Montana man pleads guilty to deliberate homicide, assault, and elder abuse

Dreamer, 24 years old, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, in Crow Tribal Court to charges of deliberate homicide, aggravated assault, and elder abuse, according to tribal court documents.

He is currently being held at the Rocky Mountain Detention Center in Hardin.

According to Crow Tribal Court documents, Dreamer allegedly stabbed his aunt 22 times with a butterfly knife on Tuesday at a residence on Dakake Street in Crow Agency.

His 86-year-old grandmother tried to stop the assault, and Dreamer allegedly pushed her to the ground, according to court documents.

She was taken to a hospital with a laceration to her collar bone and an injury to her wrist that appeared to be a stab wound, according to court documents.

Family members confirmed to MTN the aunt’s name, Jonni Dreamer, and the grandmother’s name, Deanne Dreamer.

Daniel was sentenced Wednesday by Crow Tribal Court to two-and-a-half years in jail. Tribal courts are severely limited in their authority to impose harsher punishments for crimes such as homicide.

MMIP-Billings noted on Facebook regarding an unrelated case several weeks ago: “Tribal governments have limited sentencing abilities even in homicide cases. It’s one of the many reasons why we raise awareness for the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Peoples Movement. There’s often minimal justice or no justice at all. Major crimes like homicides are under federal jurisdiction.”

Crow Tribal prosecutor David Sibley confirmed to MTN News that the FBI is investigating to determine if federal charges will be filed.