A 56-year-old Whitefish man pleaded not guilty to two counts of negligent vehicular assault nearly three weeks after allegedly hitting two pedestrians on Baker Avenue.
If convicted on both charges, James B. French Jr. could face up to 20 years in prison. He appeared in Flathead County District Court on Aug. 2.
According to court documents and law enforcement, the incident occurred on Baker Avenue at approximately 4:45 p.m. on July 14. When police arrived, they found a 2012 Mustang up on the sidewalk and two people suffering from “very serious injuries.” The pedestrians, a husband and wife, had been walking on the sidewalk when the vehicle struck them. The woman ended up going down a steep embankment and the man was impaled by some branches in the tree, about 15 feet in the air. Both people were taken to area hospitals.
The driver of the vehicle told law enforcement that he had turned north off Eighth Street onto Baker Avenue when he lost control of the vehicle and drove on to the sidewalk. According to court documents, French later took a Breathalyzer test that confirmed that he had been drinking prior to the incident.
French was released on a $100,000 bond on July 20.