Robert Doyle Stark has been charged in Great Falls after he reportedly threatened to run over a crossing guard at Morningside Elementary School.
Court documents state that Stark had been cited for disorderly conduct on December 4, 2019, after he allegedly threatened to run over the crossing guard (identified as "Jane Doe") when she asked him to move his vehicle out of a no-parking zone.
The police officer had reviewed Stark's criminal history and knew that he had been the subject of "numerous" traffic complaints where he was alleged to have been aggressor in road-rage incidents and other disturbances. The officer learned that, since June 28, 2018, Stark had been the subject of 12 calls for service where he was listed as the aggressor. In addition, Stark had been cited numerous times for assault, reckless driving, and disorderly conduct. A complaint against Stark had also been called in on December 31, 2019, in which he had allegedly been running people off the road, but officers were not able to locate him in that case.
On December 19, 2019, a police officer was sent to an elementary school in Great Falls for a report of a disturbance between Stark and Jane Doe, the crossing guard. Doe was shaking and crying, according to court documents, and told the officer that as Stark's vehicle approached, he revved his engine and quickly turned the vehicle toward her. She told the officer that she got scared at that point, worried that Stark was going to run over her as he had threatened to do before. She said she saw Stark scowling at her, and then straightened out his vehicle, turned around, and parked in front of the school. The officer noted that Doe was crying and clearly distraught by the incident.
The officer talked with another person who saw the incident and provided a similar version of events, and she believed that Doe was genuinely in fear for her life.
After reviewing video of the incident, the officer talked with Stark on the phone and asked him about the incident. According to court documents, Stark replied that all of the people at the school are just trying to get him in trouble and that they were all liars; the officer noted that Stark was belligerent throughout the conversation.
The officer then told Stark that he would be forwarding the information to the County Attorney's office requesting that a warrant be issued for Stark's arrest on a charge of assault with a weapon. Court documents say that Stark told the officer that no, the officer would not be forwarding the information to the County Attorney and that the officer was not going to do anything about the incident. The officer replied that he was indeed going to do so, at which point Stark hung up.
Stark has been charged with felony assault with a weapon in that case.
Stark has also been charged with felony assault on a minor after he allegedly slapped a five-year old autistic child so hard on his backside that it left hand-print shaped bruise on the child's buttocks.
Court documents say that Stark was acting as the child's guardian at the time as the child's mother was out of state.
Stark voluntarily went to the Great Falls Police Department to discuss the incident, and agreed to speak with officers without an attorney present.
Stark initially said that he did not know how the bruising could have happened, and then said that he and the child's mother had been using discipline while trying to potty-train the child. Stark then said that the bruising was from the night before, prior to dinner time.
Court documents note that Stark is a registered violent offender with one conviction for assault on a minor.
