Latest news with #MontanaHighwayPatrol
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Officials ID victim of fatal crash on US 93
May 22—Authorities on Thursday identified the victim of a deadly May 17 crash in Lake County. Elmo resident Sunshine Swalley, 22, was killed in the collision on U.S. 93 near Big Arm, according to Lake County Sheriff Don Bell. According to the Highway Patrol crash report, Swalley was driving a Jeep Wrangler northbound on U.S. 93 at about 2:38 a.m. when she entered the southbound lane and collided head-on with a tanker trailer driven by a 50-year-old Kalispell man. Both vehicles caught fire and temporarily blocked the highway. Swalley died at the scene and the tanker driver was transported to a hospital with injuries. The circumstances of the crash remain under investigation by Montana Highway Patrol and the Lake County Coroner's Office. Road conditions were wet at the time of the crash, according to the Highway Patrol report.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Drugs, alcohol suspected in deadly Sunday afternoon wreck
May 19—A 38-year-old Columbia Falls man was killed in what authorities suspect was a drug or alcohol-fueled wreck on Montana 35 near Kalispell on Sunday afternoon. The man was driving in the southbound lane in a Chevrolet Equinox when he allegedly crossed the center line near mile marker 46 at 3:18 p.m. and collided with a Dodge Ram headed in the other direction, according to Montana Highway Patrol. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene. The 38-year-old was not wearing a seatbelt, authorities said. The two men in the Dodge Ram, a 41-year-old driver and a 46-year-old passenger, were both injured in the collision and hospitalized at Logan Health Medical Center. The 46-year-old was not wearing a seatbelt, officials said. Authorities described the road conditions at the time of the wreck as wet. News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Drugs, alcohol suspected in deadly Sunday afternoon wreck
May 19—A 38-year-old Columbia Falls man was killed in what authorities suspect was a drug or alcohol-fueled wreck on Montana 35 near Kalispell on Sunday afternoon. The man was driving in the southbound lane in a Chevrolet Equinox when he allegedly crossed the center line near mile marker 46 at 3:18 p.m. and collided with a Dodge Ram headed in the other direction, according to Montana Highway Patrol. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene. The 38-year-old was not wearing a seatbelt, authorities said. The two men in the Dodge Ram, a 41-year-old driver and a 46-year-old passenger, were both injured in the collision and hospitalized at Logan Health Medical Center. The 46-year-old was not wearing a seatbelt, officials said. Authorities described the road conditions at the time of the wreck as wet. News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
Intoxication suspected in US 93 crash that killed Ronan man
Apr. 30—Intoxication is a suspected factor in a head-on crash on U.S. 93 that killed a Ronan man April 25, authorities report. Devin Fryslie, 34, of Ronan died in the crash that occurred at about 1 a.m. at mile marker 50 north of Ronan, according to a press release from Lake County Sheriff Don Bell. According to Montana Highway Patrol's accident report, Fryslie was driving a Nissan Frontier southbound in the northbound lane. The pickup impacted a Volkswagen Jetta driven by a 43-year-old Missoula woman. Fryslie was not wearing a seat belt and died at the scene. The Jetta driver was wearing a seat belt and was taken to St. Luke Community Healthcare with injuries. The Highway Patrol report lists alcohol and drugs as suspected factors in the crash. Road conditions were dry. Bell said Fryslie's body was sent to the state medical examiner for an autopsy. The Lake County Coroner's Office was investigating the death.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Prosecutors: Motorist involved in U.S. 93 wreck was 'high on medication'
Apr. 22—A Lakeside man accused of causing a drug-fueled collision on U.S. 93 just south of Kalispell last year is now facing a felony case in Flathead County District Court. Prosecutors filed a criminal endangerment charge against Richard Frederick Rowe, 40, on April 7. Booked into the county jail on April 9, Rowe is being held with bail set at $40,000. He is expected to appear before Judge Heidi Ulbricht on May 1 for his arraignment. Rowe was allegedly behind the wheel of a GMC Denali that witnesses say was traveling erratically while headed northbound on U.S. 93 prior to the Jan. 5, 2024 wreck, court documents said. Attempting to pass a semitrailer about 5:40 a.m., the Denali crossed into the southbound lanes of the interstate. A second motorist, headed south, told investigators that he thought the driver of the Denali was making a left turn into an auto parts business when it swerved back toward the northbound lanes. The two vehicles struck each other head on, court documents said. Both vehicles were disabled in the wreck. Investigators later learned that Rowe had been "high on medication" and in the hospital the night prior to the crash, according to court documents. A toxicology screen allegedly showed that Rowe had several different types of benzodiazepines in his system, including clonazepam and bromazolam. The latter is deemed a designer drug by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Montana Highway Patrol investigated the crash. If convicted, Rowe faces up to 10 years in Montana State Prison and a $50,000 fine. News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@
