GREAT FALLS — A man is facing a charge of felony vehicular homicide in Great Falls.
Jeremey Andrew Carpenter was arrested on Friday, August 2, 2024.
Carpenter is charged with driving a pickup truck southbound in the northbound lanes of Interstate 15 between Ulm and Cascade on July 11, 2024, and crashing into a northbound GMC Sierra, killing the other driver.
The name of the 58-year-old man who died has not yet been released by the Cascade County Sheriff/Coroner. The man was wearing a seatbelt, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.
According to the charging documents, Carpenter told the MHP trooper at the scene that he had not been driving the pickup truck, saying that he had been sleeping in the passenger seat at the time of the crash.
Carpenter identified another person as the driver of the pickup truck, and said the other person had run away from the crash scene.
The MHP trooper noted that Carpenter smelled of alcohol, and his eyes were red and watery.
He conducted a search of Carpenter and found several dime-sized plastic baggies with a white powder inside that later tested positive for cocaine.
The trooper also noted several open containers of alcohol in the pickup truck, and Carpenter reportedly told the trooper that he had been drinking at a bar in Ulm and a bar in Cascade.
A Cascade County Sheriff's Office deputy went to the home of the person that Carpenter had identified as the driver of the pickup truck.
The person was sober and had no injuries, and told the deputy that he had not been with Carpenter. The person showed the deputy text messages between himself and Carpenter from earlier in which he apologized for staying home and falling asleep earlier in the evening.
Carpenter was taken to a Great Falls hospital via ambulance where he was admitted for his injuries.
A blood sample taken when Carpenter was admitted to the hospital yielded a blood alcohol level of 0.171, which is more than twice the legal limit for operating a vehicle. In addition, cocaine was also present in his blood.
On July 15, investigators talked with Carpenter, who reportedly admitted that he had been alone in the pickup truck at the time of the crash and that he had been drinking alcohol throughout the day prior to the crash.
Bail for Carpenter was set at $500,000.
