Man sentenced for breaking into home armed with hatchet, threatening police

BEMIDJI -- A Cass Lake man who kicked in the door of a Beltrami County home while wielding a hatchet and issuing threats in late April was sent to prison for his actions that day.

David Lee Kingbird, 23, also threatened police officers after being taken into custody on April 28, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Beltrami County Attorney's Office. Kingbird was sentenced on Aug. 2 to two years at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility by Beltrami District Judge John Melbye.

About 3:20 a.m. April 28, police were called to a home in the 15000 block of Roosevelt Road Southeast. There, a woman described the hatchet Kingbird held in his hand when he entered the home, at one point slamming the weapon against the wall while threatening the woman.

Police tracked Kingbird's footprints through the snow and found him kneeling down on a trail leading to his father's house, according to the complaint. Kingbird fled from officers but was eventually arrested.

Once in a Beltrami County Sheriff's Office vehicle, Kingbird began "hitting his head on the inside of the cage and spitting at the window," the complaint stated. He remained combative after being taken to the hospital, where he was treated for hypothermia, police said.

Kingbird threatened officers with violence, saying "he was good with a gun," according to the complaint, and that an officer "would find out how good."

Kingbird, who was convicted of one count of terroristic threats for the incident, has a criminal history dating back to 2008 that includes charges for being a minor in possession of alcohol, but also a weapons charge and assault, and disorderly conduct charges in Cass and Beltrami counties.