Woman accused of causing crash that injured pedestrian

A 53-year-old Missoula woman was accused of running someone over on May 7, and police want her to be prosecuted on a felony and a misdemeanor.

The woman, Mignon Page Hess, was arrested following an investigation that began about 10:13 p.m. May 7, when police responded to a report of a vehicle vs pedestrian crash.

An officer reported arriving on scene at Durston Road and N. 19th Avenue and seeing a semi-conscious woman on the ground with a head injury.

“According to witnesses, [the injured woman] was legally traversing the pedestrian crosswalk on the north side of the intersection when she was struck by the gray Chevy Truck which had been traveling west and was attempting to turn left (north),” reads an affidavit the officer filed in county justice court.

The truck’s driver was Hess, and she admitted to another officer that she consumed alcoholic beverages earlier in the evening, according to the affidavit.

The officer/affiant reported detecting a faint odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Hess and claimed Hess showed indications of intoxication such as bloodshot eyes, “deliberate” speech, and a “disheveled appearance.”

Hess didn’t perform a field sobriety test, as she “explained that she felt faint and feared she was going to pass out,” according to the affiant.

“She also stated she felt the need to vomit,” the affidavit reads.

The injured woman was flown to a trauma center.

“The full extent of her injuries is now known,” the affidavit reads.

The Bozeman Police Department,submitted a request for prosecution on charges of negligent vehicular assault with serious bodily injury and careless driving involving death or serious bodily injury. The former charge, a felony, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, as well as restitution. The latter charge, a misdemeanor, is punishable by as much as six months in the county jail as a $5,000 fine.