A man accused of injuring another person with a piece of wood during a dispute in Hungry Horse over a camper in 2024 later received a pair of suspended sentences.

Prosecutors brought Donald Lester Church, 42, up on a felony count of assault with a weapon and a misdemeanor count of criminal mischief in Flathead County District Court following the Oct. 29, 2024, confrontation on Hungry Horse Boulevard. Though he maintained his innocence at his arraignment in November of that year, Church took a plea deal in May 2025.

In exchange to guilty pleas to misdemeanor charges of assault and criminal mischief, prosecutors agreed to recommend Church receive a pair of suspended six-month jail sentences to run consecutive to one another.

Appearing before Judge Paul Sullivan on May 29, Church changed his plea to guilty. Sullivan handed down the suspended jail sentences the same day and ordered Church to pay $1,000 in fines.

Church allegedly tossed the chunk of wood after two people came across their camper, which they said had been stolen, on Hungry Horse Boulevard. As the pair attempted to retrieve it, Church threw the wood through the driver's side window of their truck, according to court documents.

One of the victims suffered injuries to their hands and feet after getting struck by the wood, court documents said.

During a subsequent interview with Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies, Church allegedly admitted to breaking the window of the victims' truck. He said he lost his temper, according to court documents.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].