An arrest warrant has been issued for a Kalispell probation and parole officer accused of driving drunk on the Fourth of July.
The Flathead County Attorney’s Office said 23-year-old Gina Janet Gonstad was charged Tuesday with felony criminal endangerment and misdemeanor DUI.
Police say about 20 motorists called 911 shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday to report an SUV traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of U.S. 93 between Kalispell and Somers. Court records state that Gonstad was driving very slowly with her headlights off.
Prosecutors say she failed field sobriety tests and refused to take a breath test. Gonstad was booked into the Flathead County Detention Center and was released into the custody of her roommate, a sheriff’s deputy.
Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan, whose office authorized Gonstad’s release, said she was let go because the jail was crowded and was not able to segregate her from the general population. He said her background as an officer would have posed a safety risk if she was placed with other inmates.