Man charged after crash in Whitefish

A man was arrested and charged with one felony and two misdemeanors after allegedly driving drunk on Sunday and taking out a street sign, trees and another vehicle in downtown Whitefish.

Caleb Edward Thomas Rodger, 23, is facing one felony count of criminal endangerment plus misdemeanor counts of failure to provide notification of an accident and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

According to court documents, a Whitefish Police officer encountered Rodger after receiving a report of a hit-and-run accident near Central Avenue and First Street. The officer saw Rodger’s red car turn south from First Street onto Spokane Avenue and pull over. A group of people surrounded the vehicle.

The officer noticed that Rodger appeared extremely intoxicated. He performed poorly on field sobriety tests and provided a breath sample that registered .115. The legal limit is .08.

A witness told the officer that he heard a crash and saw where Rodger’s vehicle had run over a street sign and trees in a sidewalk area and hit another vehicle. Rodger’s vehicle then tried to take off, but appeared to break down, the man reported.

The officer noted that a tree had been sheared off at its base, a sidewalk bike rack had been hit, a “no parking sign” was knocked over, a Subaru Forester had been sideswiped, and another tree had been damaged during the incident.

Rodger is set to be arraigned March 17.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.