Report: Woman with 3 DUIs caused drunk-driving crash

A 44-year-old Belgrade woman with three convictions for driving while intoxicated rear-ended another driver on Love Lane near Stallion Drive, according to accusations filed in county court.

The crash reportedly happened shortly before 4:23 p.m. March 24. The woman was identified as Darcy Faye Faler, who had bloodshot eyes, a flushed face, and slurred speech, according to an affidavit that a state trooper filed in Gallatin County Justice Court.

“The defendant stated that she had seen the vehicles ahead of her slowing down but believed that they had begun driving again, which caused her to continue driving straight forward until the front of her vehicle collided with the back of a stopped vehicle,” reads the affidavit.

The trooper reportedly obtained a warrant for a blood draw, which was executed at a hospital before she was jailed.

The trooper is pursuing a felony DUI charge rather than a misdemeanor due to the number of Faler’s prior convictions. She has DUI convictions from 2010, 2008, and 2006, according to the affidavit. In Montana, a defendant’s first three DUI charges are generally misdemeanors, while subsequent DUIs are felonies.