C-Falls man sentenced for DUI No. 5

A 34-year-old Columbia Falls man was sentenced to five years with the Montana Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty to his fifth DUI.

During an April 23 hearing, Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht recommended Chad Downen for placement in the Watch 2 program at Warm Springs. She gave him credit for 54 days served and ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine and $400 for public defender fees.

The sentence followed a plea agreement reached by Downen’s attorney on Feb. 11. Ulbricht also revoked Downen’s sentence from his DUI No. 4 conviction in February 2013 and tacked on three years with the DOC, all suspended and consecutive.

According to court records, Downen’s fifth DUI arrest occurred just after midnight on Jan. 25. A Kalispell police officer pulled over a vehicle suspected of speeding and observed the driver and a passenger switch seats.

The female in the vehicle, Catherine Hampton, 24, allegedly insisted she had been driving, not Downen. The officer later arrested Hampton and charged her with obstructing justice, but she was released because the jail was full.

Downen allegedly refused to provide a breath sample at the location of the traffic stop and at the Kalispell police station, so a search warrant was obtained and he was transported to the hospital for a blood draw.

A search of his driving record showed that Downen had been convicted of DUIs in May 2003, July 2005, February 2010 and February 2013.

In the last case, Downen was arrested after Columbia Falls police officers caught him spinning brodies on Railroad Street late at night.