Arrested editor pleads not guilty

Lake County Leader Editor Vince Lovato, arrested Oct. 1 while taking photos at an accident scene near Polson, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three misdemeanor charges.

Lovato entered the pleas to disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing a peace officer Wednesday in Lake County Justice Court.

He had been handcuffed and arrested by a Montana Highway Patrol trooper at the scene of a head-on collision between a passenger car and a tanker truck carrying diesel fuel.

At Wednesday’s hearing in Polson, Justice of the Peace Joey Jayne granted attorney Mike Meloy’s discovery request.

Meloy, Lovato’s defense attorney, asked for a list of all people the prosecution intends to call as witnesses and any pertinent evidence in the case, including audio or video recordings from the scene.

The judge also approved Meloy’s request for all written, oral and videotaped statements from the Lake County sheriff’s deputy who transported Lovato to the Lake County Detention Center; and any and all dispatch or 911 recordings or transcripts relating to the incident.

The discovery will include statements from the arresting officer, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Anthony Isbell.

Meloy also requested “any and all personnel records reflecting the performance of the arresting officer, Tony Isbell, either while employed by the Montana Highway Patrol or any other law enforcement agency.”  

Lovato and his wife, Michelle, a reporter for the Leader, had driven to the scene of the accident from Polson after hearing about it on the police scanner.

Lovato was taking pictures of one of the vehicles involved in the accident when Isbell arrested him.

At some point during the incident, Isbell handcuffed Lovato, who is 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, and tried to put him in the back seat of his patrol car. Because of Lovato’s size, he apparently did not fit easily in the patrol car, so a Lake County sheriff’s deputy used his pickup truck to transport Lovato to the Lake County jail, where he was booked and released.

According to the citations issued by Isbell, Lovato was cited for disorderly conduct for allegedly “screaming obscenities while being arrested, causing a public disturbance.”

The resisting-arrest ticket alleges that Lovato “would not follow commands, pulling away and attempting to escape,” and the citation for obstructing a peace officer alleged that Lovato was “disobeying lawful command inside crime scene boundary.”

Isbell’s supervisor, Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Randy Owens, gave an update on the accident, saying that the Kalispell woman driving the vehicle that allegedly caused the head-on collision was immediately taken by ambulance to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries and a blood draw because officers suspected alcohol was a factor in the accident.

Owens said that the woman may be charged with DUI pending the results of the blood test.  

The other driver involved in the accident, which occurred on Montana 35 near mile marker 16, walked away without injury. He was driving a loaded diesel tanker truck.

The Lake County Leader, where Lovato works, is owned by Hagadone Montana Publishing LLC, the same company that owns the Daily Inter Lake. Lovato has been a journalist for 33 years and was hired as editor of the Lake County paper earlier this year.

Disorderly conduct carries a maximum sentence of a $1,000 fine and one year in jail. Obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest each carry maximum sentences of six months in jail and $500 fines.

Lovato’s next court appearance is an omnibus hearing on Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. at the Lake County Courthouse in Polson.

Reporter Brittany Brevik can be reached at 758-4459 or by email at bbrevik@dailyinterlake.com.