From the Courts: Father charged with tampering in daughter's assault with weapon case

A daughter and her father are both facing charges in state District Court In Havre on separate but related charges to accusations she threatened a woman with a BB gun.

Erica Ann Dion pleaded not guilty in the court in Havre Monday to a felony count of assault with a weapon and a misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace.

Scott Edward Dion was charged Monday with felony counts of tampering with a witness and information and solicitation of compounding a felony. He is scheduled for an initial hearing July 1.

According to court documents, Erica Dion approached a residence her father owns May 11. A woman who rents a room from Scott Dion in the residence said he told her not to let his daughter in the house.

The woman said that May 13, Erica Dion drove up when she was outside the house and started calling her profane names because she did not let Dion in.

She said she was confused and approached the pickup, and Dion pulled out a pistol and pointed it at her, continuing to use profanities about her not letting Dion in the house.

The woman said she was afraid for her life at the time.

When Dion was apprehended, police found a Remington RP45 BB gun in her possession which resembled a real pistol.

Documents say Scott Dion approached the woman May 31 about vacating her lease, saying he would let her out of her lease if she dropped the charges against his daughter, the documents said. He also threatened to hire a lawyer, take her to court and ruin her credit if she did not drop the charges, the documents said.

The documents said Dion also offered, both verbally and in a written agreement, to return $235 she had paid in rent if she dropped the charges, the documents said.