Officer pleads innocent to wrong-way driving

A Kalispell probation and parole officer has pleaded innocent to felony charges following an alleged Fourth of July drunken-driving incident on U.S. 93 South.

Gina Janet Gonstad, 23, entered not guilty pleas to felony criminal endangerment and misdemeanor DUI during her arraignment Thursday in Flathead County District Court.

Gonstad has been placed on administrative leave from the Office of Probation and Parole, a division of the Montana Department of Corrections, according to a department spokesman.

Gonstad's attorney, Bryan C. Tipp of Missoula, had no comment following Thursday's hearing.

Police reports indicate that approximately 20 motorists called 911 shortly after 10 p.m. on July 4 to report a sport-utility vehicle traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of U.S. 93 between Kalispell and Somers.

Gonstad was driving very slowly and without her headlights on, according to court documents.

Witnesses told investigators other drivers were forced to run their vehicles into the ditch to avoid head-on collisions. Passing motorists reportedly were able to block traffic and bring Gonstad to a stop before law enforcement arrived.

Gonstad was stopped near mile marker 108, about a mile from where Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Mike Haynes, 29, suffered fatal injuries in a March crash with a drunk driver.

That driver, who died in the crash, also had been traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of traffic.

Gonstad, who was booked and immediately released following her arrest on July 4, was again freed on conditions during an initial appearance in Flathead County District Court.

Prosecutors have said they were concerned that an over-capacity jail on a holiday weekend would make it impossible to segregate Gonstad for her safety.

Gonstad, who has no criminal record, could face more than 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine if convicted at her January 2010 trial.

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