Suspect in Custody after Standoff in Florence – No Shots Fired

A 38 year-old man is in custody after leading Ravalli County deputies on a short vehicle pursuit in the Florence area on Saturday.

Sheriff Steve Holton provided details on the incident.

“We were investigating a threat call in the Florence area,” said Sheriff Holton. “The suspect showed up at the scene and had some interaction with deputies, and during the course of that we determined that he had at least two firearms with him, and then he left the scene. Another deputy tried to effect a traffic stop in the 8-Mile area and he failed to yield. There was a short pursuit up to old Highway 93 in Florence where he then stopped.”

Holton said at first the suspect refused to surrender to deputies.

“He just would not comply with any deputies’ commands or orders for a considerable amount of time, over 45 minutes to nearly and hour,” he said. “Missoula County and the Montana Highway Patrol came down to assist, and Florence Fire came out to do some traffic control. Eventually, the corporal on duty was able to negotiate a surrender.
Holton contradicted inaccurate reports that shots had been fired during the incident.

“There were some Facebook or other social media reports that shots had been fired, but there were never any shots fired,” he said. “The suspect was arrested, identified as Daniel Lieberg, 38, from the Florence area.”

The charges against Lieberg were not released. He will be appear in Ravalli County Justice Court on Monday.