Driver charged in fatal crash

A Kalispell man accused of running a red light and causing a crash last year that killed an 84-year-old Whitefish man has been charged with negligent homicide.

Daniel Lee Miller, 60, was released on his own recognizance after an initial appearance Thursday in Flathead County Justice Court.

According to court documents, Miller said he was having a medical problem with one of his eyes when the crash occurred.

"My eye was full of pus and swelled shut," he told investigators after the Nov. 19 collision north of Kalispell.

Miller was westbound on West Reserve Drive in a Ford pickup when he ran a red light at the intersection with Whitefish Stage Road and struck broadside a four-door Buick sedan driven by Albert Andrew Kerestes, 84, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.

"I remember coming down… [West] Reserve [Drive] and I know my eye was dripping," Miller said in his interview with investigators, a portion of which was transcribed in court papers. "I wiped my eye and I had a Coke in between my legs and it spilled and I don't know if I hit the clutch or I hit the brake. And I just went through the stop sign… I was so concerned on my eye, that mess in my lap and then I kind of think that I, I just pushed the clutch in and went right through it."

A driver following Miller told investigators he was 'swerving across the lines' as they approached the intersection and that he "did not even slow down" for the red light.

Kerestes - who retired in 1982 from Anaconda Aluminum Co. in Columbia Falls, where he was a supervisor in the machine shop - was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center and pronounced dead.

His 84-year-old wife, who was a passenger in the car, and Miller were taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center after the crash with non-life-threatening injuries.

If convicted, Miller could face up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. He has yet to be arraigned.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com