Missoula, MT : Missoula woman accused of causing crash in Miller Creek while high on Wednesday, 14th March 2018

A Missoula woman accused of fleeing after causing a head-on collision earlier this week while high off cans of compressed air made her first appearance Wednesday in Missoula County Justice Court.

Amanda Mays, 24, is charged with a felony for criminal endangerment and misdemeanors for driving under the influence of drugs, not stopping at an accident where a person was injured, driving with the plates of another vehicle, and making a false report to law enforcement.

Shortly before 9 p.m. Monday, Montana Highway Patrol troopers went to the scene of a two-car collision on Upper Miller Creek Road, near the intersection with Kerr Drive, court documents show.

According to charging documents, the troopers determined that a Ford Focus tried to pass in a no-passing zone, and hit a SUV head-on, injuring one of the passengers in the SUV. Witnesses said the driver of the Ford walked away, saying she was going to her boyfriend’s house nearby.

The license plate of the Ford was assigned to a Chevrolet pickup that was owned by Mays’ boyfriend.

Half an hour later, Mays called 911 and reported that her Ford Focus was stolen from her boyfriend’s house, according to the charging documents. Officers met her and noted that she matched the description of the driver who left the scene of the crash. Mays was arrested on an existing warrant in Ravalli County, and taken back to the crash scene, where court records state that a witness confirmed she had been the driver of the Ford.

Mays had mixed results on field sobriety tests, and a breath test showed no alcohol in her system.

She told officers she had been at Wal-Mart before the crash, but hadn’t driven there. A Missoula police officer reviewed security footage from the store, which showed Mays buying four cans of compressed air, which court records noted is “commonly inhaled to get high.” She then got into the Ford and sat there for awhile before driving away without turning the headlights on, and driving over a curb onto Miller Creek Road, court records stated.

Mays also faces misdemeanors for driving with a suspended license and for not having insurance or registration for the Ford.

In court Wednesday, noting that Mays has an 8-month-old child and has spent her entire life in Missoula, public defense attorney Ted Fellman asked that she be released on her own recognizance, with prosecutors seeking a $15,000 bail.

Fellman added that Mays has a job cleaning houses, and told him that the air cans she bought were for work and there was no evidence, only speculation, that she has used them to get high. He said Mays told him that one of her tires blew out, pulling her vehicle into the other lane and causing the collision.

Justice of the Peace Landee Holloway set bail at $5,000.

Source :
Missoula woman accused of causing crash in Miller Creek while high