Wreck injures several people
courtesy photo
Stacy Markus
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A Charlo woman admitted to being under the influence of alcohol when she caused a fiery car wreck that seriously injured other people and scorched the pavement of U.S. Highway 93 near Eagle Pass Trail this past August.
Stacy Leann Markus, 52, entered a plea of guilty at District Court in Polson on April 22 to negligent vehicular assault, which is a felony. Markus made her appearance via zoom from her attorney’s office in Missoula. Her attorney is Lance Jasper.
According to court records, on Aug. 16, 2020, emergency services were dispatched to a report of a two-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 93 with both vehicles engulfed in flames. One driver was trapped in the vehicle and suffered serious injuries.Good Samaritans were able to extract the person from the vehicle. All three occupants of that vehicle had to be transported to an area hospital.
After the wreck, witnesses reported to law enforcement that they saw Markus pull onto the highway without yielding to an oncoming vehicle that was pulling a large trailer and traveling at highway speeds. The vehicles collided and burst into flames.
Markus allegedly could not recite the alphabet and failed other field sobriety tests. The driver that was pulled from the burning vehicle suffered a broken leg and likely would have burned alive had it not been for “heroic efforts of several bystanders.”
A plea agreement calls for a joint recommendation of 10 years with the Montana Department of Corrections with all but 60-days jail time suspended. Markus has already served 30 days in jail and 30 days of inpatient treatment. Lake County prosecutor James Lapotka said Markus will also have to pay restitution to her victims, which will likely be “north of six figures.” An exact amount is still being determined.
Markus’s attorney Lance Jasper, of Missoula, told the court that his client has already raised some of the restitution by selling property.
Judge Deborah “Kim” Christopher set sentencing for June 10 and ordered Markus to meet with adult probation and parole before 5 p.m. on April 22. Markus made it to Polson to meet her probation officer but was allegedly intoxicated. A preliminary breath test showed her blood alcohol content nearly three times over the legal limit, according to Lapotka. She was placed under arrest and booked into the Lake County jail with bail set $1 million.
