A Kalispell man accused of drunkenly waving a handgun at fellow motorists during a January 2024 road rage incident earned a pair of suspended jail sentences last year.  

Jacob Michael Krone, 28, faced a felony assault with a weapon charge and a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence, first offense, following the Jan. 6, 2024, confrontation on Montana 35. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Flathead County District Court that same month. 

But Krone took a deal in May of that year that saw prosecutors amend the felony charge to misdemeanor assault in exchange for a pair of guilty pleas.  

Judge Heidi Ulbricht handed down a suspended six-month sentence to the county jail for the assault charge on May 1, 2024. He received a second six-month sentence — with all but one day suspended — in the county jail for the driving under the influence charge.  

Ulbricht gave Krone credit for three days of time served and ordered him to pay $585 in court fines and fees.  

Krone stuck a gun out the window of his GMC Sierra and pointed it at a mother and son traveling northbound along Montana 35 in the early afternoon, court documents said. The mother and son had unsuccessfully tried to pass Krone.

They took a photo of Krone's license plate and turned it over to the authorities, who used it to track him down, according to court documents. Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies caught up with Krone on Trails End Drive not long after. 

He denied waving the gun at the time and said he had made an obscene gesture at motorists he described as tailgating him, court documents said. Deputies, who described Krone as smelling of an alcoholic beverage, recovered a 10 mm Glock pistol while arresting him. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.