Three felony charges filed in Jan. 19 Evergreen crash

A 27-year-old Columbia Falls man facing three felony charges after his vehicle T-boned a car in Evergreen, seriously injuring a passenger, pleaded not guilty Feb. 7 in Flathead County District Court.

Sean West was charged with negligent endangerment, criminal endangerment and failure to remain at the scene of an accident. He faces up to 10 years for each of the charges. He posted a $10,000 bond four days after the accident and was released with orders to wear a SCRAM monitoring bracelet.

According to a Montana Highway Patrol investigation and eyewitnesses, West’s sport-utility vehicle was traveling northbound on U.S. 2 at a high rate of speed on Jan. 19 when it ran a red light at East Reserve Drive and collided with another vehicle.

A man sitting in the back seat of the other vehicle was ejected and flew about 63 feet before landing. He was transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center after sustaining several injuries, including a lacerated liver.

An eyewitness reported seeing West leave his SUV and start to run away. She said she told him to stop, but he replied, “I can’t do this.” West later contacted a sheriff’s dispatcher to say where he was and to leave a contact number.

When the investigating Highway Patrol trooper went to see West, he allegedly admitted he had drank six to eight beers, ran the red light, got scared and ran away. A blood sample showed West’s blood-alcohol content was 0.143.

West’s past criminal history includes several misdemeanor charges, including possession of drug paraphernalia, two MIPs and two no insurance charges.