Defendant in DUI case arrested after failing drug, alcohol tests

A Columbia Falls woman facing multiple charges after allegedly driving under the influence last year saw her bond revoked in Lincoln County District Court on Jan. 27 after allegedly skipping and failing mandatory drug tests.

Chelsea Nichole Faber, 30, was in court for a scheduled omnibus hearing when the question of an outstanding bench warrant surfaced. Prosecutors have charged her with driving under the influence, fourth or subsequent offense, operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of more than .08, careless driving and unlawful possession of a container of alcohol.

The warrant was issued Jan. 22, just two days after Faber failed a urine analysis — testing positive for alcohol use — and three days after she missed a mandatory remote Breathalyzer test, according to court documents.

She previously skipped or failed drug tests, resulting in her bond rising from $10,000 to $15,000.

Scott B. Johnson, Faber’s attorney, argued his client did not pose a flight risk and had shown up for court appearances even after failing drug tests, saying that indicated she was a responsible individual. He asked the court to maintain her release on a $15,000 bond.

But District Judge Matthew Cuffe said the bond was intended to do more than just ensure Faber made scheduled court appearances.

“It is not a flight risk issue; it is a compliance issue,” Cuffe said. “I’m not going to let her out and keep drinking and driving.”

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Faber outside the courtroom following the hearing.

Authorities charged Faber after responding to a two-vehicle accident near mile marker 54 of U.S. Highway 2 on Nov. 22. When Trooper Bryce Ford of Montana Highway Patrol came across the scene, he found a pickup truck nearly against the guardrail, the rear axle seemingly torn off, according to his affidavit.

A heavily damaged Subaru was resting across the highway, he wrote.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies working the scene told Ford the Subaru had crossed into incoming traffic and hit the rear of the pickup truck. They said the driver, later identified as Faber, was in the ambulance and disoriented. She thought she was in Kalispell and smelled strongly of alcohol, the affidavit said.

The deputies also told Ford that she claimed to have come from a friend’s home. In the immediate aftermath of the accident, Faber asked where her friend was despite having been the sole occupant of the vehicle, court documents said.

When he interviewed Faber, Ford noticed bloodshot and watery eyes. He also reported smelling alcohol on her in the affidavit.

Faber repeatedly told Ford she lost control of the vehicle, court documents said.

Asked why she was on the road, Faber told Ford she lived down the road — near an airport — and planned to go hunting.

“I asked her if that was Kalsipell and she stated that it was,” Ford wrote. “Ms. Faber had no idea of where she was at this time. She believed she was still in Kalispell.”

Faber allegedly admitted to Ford that she drank four alcoholic seltzer drinks earlier in the day. She agreed to a blood test at a local hospital, Ford wrote in the affidavit.

According to court documents, Deputy John Hyslop of the Lincoln County Sherrif’s Office discovered an empty bottle of vodka in Faber’s purse soon after. In the subsequent crash investigation, Ford found a clear water bottle in the vehicle. Opening it, he discovered a clear liquid reeking of alcohol, he wrote in the affidavit.

He also discovered empty cans of White Claw, which is advertised as a hard seltzer, behind the passenger seat, court documents said.