Officials alarmed about rise in work-zone reckless driving

Police chases have become more frequent in the Flathead Valley this year, and not even construction zones are immune from seeing reckless drivers.

In the last month at least four Northwest Montana men have been charged with criminal endangerment for allegedly driving carelessly through work areas on U.S. 93 and U.S. 2.

Montana Department of Transportation District 1 Administrator Bob Vosen said it’s unfortunate to have such a rash of intoxicated, impaired drivers traveling through work zones.

“It’s extremely troubling to me that it’s not only MDT employees but also contractor employees in those areas that are already hazardous to be working in, to have impaired drivers traveling through there,” Vosen said. “It’s also very concerning to have impaired drivers anywhere.

“I just want to stress to the public, they’re not only putting themselves, but other individuals including husbands, wives, children and parents all at risk with this. We just want people to understand the severity of the issue,” Vosen said.

According to Montana law, a person convicted of a traffic violation in a work zone where a highway worker was present faces fines of double the original cost.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office said police pursuits have increased dramatically in the last year. From Jan. 1 through Sept. 29, county officers have been involved in 19 vehicle pursuits. Four of those chases included assisting other agencies in pursuits started in their jurisdiction. That’s an average of about one every other week.

For the same time period in 2020, county officers were involved in 12 vehicle pursuits, including three in which they assisted other agencies in pursuits started in their jurisdiction.

TWO RECENT alleged work-zone incidents involved a 75-year-old Lakeside man, William Friedrich Shiffman. He is facing one felony county of criminal endangerment and one misdemeanor of resisting arrest.

Shiffman is in the Flathead County Detention Center on $75,000 bail.

According to charging documents, on Sept. 15, construction workers who were completing a project on U.S. 93 between Lakeside and Somers, reported a reckless driver.

Several witnesses told a Montana Highway Patrol officer that a Dodge Ram pickup failed to yield to a stop light as well as flaggers and workers, and then drove around a line of traffic into oncoming traffic and nearly struck a worker.

Later on the same day, the truck returned and was headed south when it nearly hit a worker. Some employees followed the driver and told the trooper where the person lived. When the officer spoke to Shiffman, he denied there was a work zone. He then allegedly said he didn’t understand why workers were making him stop and wait and it was wasting his gas.

On Sept. 23, another trooper was investigating a separate crash when workers told him Shiffman was back. The officer saw Shiffman was driving erratically and not obeying construction signs or flaggers.

After stopping Shiffman’s vehicle, the officer said Shiffman was very agitated. The officer returned to the first incident and told Shiffman to stay in his vehicle.

But Shiffman allegedly left the truck and resisted the officer when he tried to detain him. A construction worker helped the officer get Shiffman into the back of the patrol vehicle.

The trooper reported Shiffman smelled of alcohol and several beer cans were found in the vehicle.

A SECOND incident involved 35-year-old James Scott Mende, also of Lakeside. On Sept. 22, he allegedly drove drunk through a work zone at speeds of up to 75 mph. The speed limit in the zone was 35 mph. A trooper was investigating another crash when he reported seeing a vehicle pass traffic, a pilot vehicle and not stop at a light.

When the trooper pulled Mende over he said he smelled alcohol and reported Mende’s eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred. Mende refused field sobriety tests and allegedly said he was drunk.

Mende was released from jail on Monday, Sept. 27. His arraignment on charges of criminal endangerment and DUI is scheduled for Oct. 14.

A THIRD criminal endangerment case was brought against a Kalispell man, Patrick Thomas Kelly, 27, after a Sept. 10 incident in Lakeside.

It began when a Flathead County officer tried to stop a vehicle driven by Kelly, who then drove into a field, through a fence and around a trailer court. Another officer picked up the chase on U.S. 93 as Kelly drove south, allegedly passing stopped vehicles in a work zone while speeding.

The officer saw Kelly drive through a red traffic control light before wrecking, court documents stated.

Kelly was involved in a 2018 incident in which he stole a vehicle, drove drunk and engaged in a short chase. He received a three-year Department of Corrections sentence for drug possession.

His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 5. He remains in the Flathead County Detention Center.

THE FOURTH incident occurred on the east side of the valley when a Browning man, Theo Windy Robert Old Chief, 31, allegedly helped steal a pickup truck in Columbia Falls on Aug. 23.

He is accused of driving through Hungry Horse at speeds of more than 110 mph and through a construction zone on U.S. 2 before stopping in Browning after spike strips were used.

Old Chief is in the Flathead County jail with his bail set at $100,000. His next court appearance is set for Monday, Oct. 4.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 406-758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.