GREAT FALLS — Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter has released information about an incident that happened on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, that resulted in the death of a man and a gunshot wound to a Sheriff’s deputy.
It happened along Wexford Lane just south of McIver Road on Friday evening.
Here is the complete video of Saturday's news conference with Sheriff Slaughter and County Attorney Josh Racki:
According to Slaughter, a deputy was executing a search warrant at the residence of Pamela Jo Polejewski in relation to previous charges of animal cruelty.
Michael Lee Hanson - believed to be in a relationship with Polejewski - reportedly engaged in a fire fight with the deputy.
Hanson was shot by the deputy and died; the deputy was shot in the shoulder.
Slaughter said on Friday evening that the deputy - whose name has not yet been released - was treated for the injury and released from the hospital; the deputy is currently on standard administrative leave.
Slaughter noted that Polejewski’s history with courts goes back to 2003 when she was first charged in relation to animals on her property.
In May 2020, Polejewski was charged with several counts of animal cruelty after a fire on her Wexford Lane property; click here for details.
One of the conditions of her release in 2020 said that she “shall neither own, nor possess any animals of any species during the pendency of this action.”
In recent weeks, however, there were reports that she had been keeping animals on her property and that she had been buying food for the animals, which is what led to the Sheriff's Office serving the search warrant on Friday.
