Police seek witnesses in fatal crash investigation
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ARLEE — Nearly two weeks after a one-vehicle rollover just north of Arlee left a man dead and led to felony charges for the driver, police are still looking for any information about a second vehicle that allegedly ran over the victim’s body.
“We haven’t received any leads,” Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jim Sanderson said.
And driver Christopher Gardipe of Arlee, who was charged with negligent vehicular homicide while under the influence, is refusing to cooperate with police, Sanderson added.
“(Gardipe) will not speak with investigators,” Sanderson said.
While Gardipe refused a blood test, a sample of his blood taken at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula was subpoenaed, and investigators are waiting on the results. Sanderson said he believes alcohol, speed and wet road conditions were all factors in the wreck, which occurred around 2:15 a.m. on June 11 at mile marker 18.2 on U.S. Highway 93.
A southbound Chevrolet pickup driven by Gardipe reportedly drifted off the left side of the highway, yawed back onto the road and rolled several times, ejecting passengers Winston Morigeau Brown, 32, and 22-year-old Evelyn Marie Charlo of Ronan. Neither passenger was wearing a seatbelt, Sanderson noted.
Witnesses who stopped at the scene and reported the wreck said a second vehicle that was swerving ran over Brown, who they believed was already dead at the time. The vehicle didn’t stop, and three witnesses each gave different descriptions of the car, probably due to the darkness, rain and the stress of the situation, Sanderson said.
Sanderson estimated Gardipe’s speed before the crash at about 65 miles per hour, and noted that the wreck happened in a 35 mph zone near Saddle Mountain Road.
“In fact, (Gardipe) hit the 35-mile-an-hour sign,” he said.
Gardipe and Charlo were both treated at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, and Gardipe was arrested immediately after being discharged. After being charged with negligent vehicular homicide while under the influence, Gardipe was released on a $1,000 bond and was ordered to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet.
Anyone traveling in the vicinity of the crash during the early morning hours of June 11 is asked to contact local law enforcement or the Montana Highway Patrol with any information that might relate to the car that struck Brown’s body.
“We’d really like to talk to the (driver of the) second vehicle,” Sanderson said.
