Fifth DUI charge could've been man's sixth

A Columbia Falls man recently pleaded not guilty to felony DUI. Rusty Sweeney, 43, was convicted of DUI charges four times, from 1990 to 1999, but was also convicted of criminal endangerment in February 2010 after an initial DUI charge was amended.

According to court records, Sweeney’s most recent arrest for DUI came on Feb. 8 at about 1:24 a.m. after a sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of a Toyota pickup stuck on a snowbank on Woodland Road, in Columbia Falls.

Sweeney allegedly was unsteady on his feet, smelled of alcohol, failed field sobriety tests and had an open container in his truck’s cupholder. He refused to provide a breath sample twice and was transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for a blood draw.

He posted bond on Feb. 11 and was released with a SCRAM alcohol-detection bracelet and was provided a public defender three days later.

He pleaded not guilty before Flathead Count District Court Judge Robert Allison on March 6. He faces up to 13 months with the Department of Corrections, a consecutive but suspended five-year sentence, and a $1,000 to $10,000 fine if convicted. His next hearing is scheduled for April 9.