Report: Man high on meth arrested outside Three Forks

A 48-year-old Three Forks man was jailed following allegations he was high on meth while asking people for rides on a road northeast of Three Forks.

The man, Nathan Alan Petrlich, was arrested Feb. 25 based on an investigation that began about 1:15 p.m. that day when someone called police to report a “tweaked out” man “pulling a rifle on the cars going by.”

A sheriff’s deputy contacted the caller, who reportedly said he had been leaving Clarkston when he encountered a man standing on Clarkston Road.

“The witness stated the male told him he needed a ride, to which the witness denied,” reads an affidavit the deputy filed in county justice court. “As the witness drove away, the witness stated he observed in his rear-view mirror the male point what the witness thought to be a rifle toward his vehicle. The witness then clarified he was not sure if the male was pointing a rifle or a stick.”

The affidavit doesn’t state whether a rifle was found.

The deputy found a man matching the caller’s description, and this man “displayed multiple indicators of drug impairment” such as “increased energy, rapid and excessive talking, and erratic behavior,” according to the affidavit.

The deputy allegedly identified the man as Petrlich. He arrested Petrlich on suspicion of disorderly conduct based on his determination that there was probable cause to suppose Petrlich had knowingly disturbed the peace by “rendering vehicular traffic impassable” by “stopping vehicle to ask for a ride,” according to the affidavit.

The deputy reportedly discovered Petrlich had absconded from probation.

“I conducted a search incident to arrest on scene, and while I searched the defendant’s right sock, I located two clear baggies that contained a white crystalline substance,” reads the affidavit.

The substance tested positive for meth and the baggies weighed 1.439 grams, the deputy reported.

The deputy requested prosecution on a felony drug possession charge and a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.