Lake County commissioner pleads not guilty to DUI, disorderly conduct in Mineral County

Lake County Commissioner Michael Hutchin pleaded not guilty to a second offense of driving under the influence of alcohol and disorderly conduct after his arrest at the Lincoln's 10,000 Silver Dollar Bar in Haugan early this month.

According to a police report written by Mineral County Deputy Michael Boone, he and Sgt. William Armour, also of the county's sheriff's office, responded to a possible attempted abduction around 4 a.m. Feb. 1. They had been notified by the Haugan dispatch that a male subject had tried to pull a woman into his truck. She got away from him and told authorities that the suspect was sitting in his vehicle outside the hotel. Dispatch also notified Boone and Armour that Hutchin was in possession of a concealed weapons permit.

The caller described the vehicle as a white four-door Ford diesel pickup truck with a specialty license plate that read "KMISHNER." The caller told police that she had received a complaint about him from hotel guests about a car alarm coming from the front of the hotel around 3 a.m. When the woman approached the car, Hutchin was passed out with the vehicle running and his head on the car horn.

The caller stated that she tapped on the car window to try and wake Hutchin. When that did not work, she opened the car door and asked Hutchin if he was all right. Hutchin did not respond and she reached into the car to pull his head off the horn. Hutchin then became "semi-aware" and she asked him if he had a room in the hotel. He did not respond, so she asked him if he would sleep on the passenger side if he was going to sleep in his car. Hutchin still did not respond, so she reached across him to recline the seat, in an effort to prevent him from leaning on the car horn. At this time, the caller said that Hutchin grabbed her arm and tried to pull her toward him. She pulled away and returned to the lobby to call police. The woman's name was not released.

According to the police report, when Boone and Armour arrived at the Lincoln's 10,000 Silver Dollar Bar, Hutchin was in his truck with the engine running and his head resting on the steering wheel. Armour provided Boone with cover while he opened the car door and grabbed Hutchin by his left arm. Hutchin awoke and began to resist the officer. After a moment of talking to Hutchin, Boone got him out of the car, handcuffed him and placed him in the patrol car.

The police report stated that there was a strong odor of alcohol in the vehicle, but there were no open containers. There was a pistol under the center portion of the front seat.

Boone read Hutchin his rights and asked him if he was staying at the Silver Dollar Inn with anyone else. Hutchin responded that he was staying with his wife and showed officers his hotel room key.

Boone then contacted Hutchin's wife, Patricia, who was in the hotel at the time. She told officers that sometimes her husband likes to sit in his vehicle and listen to music.

Since the weather was too bad to properly perform a field sobriety test on the man, Boone read him the Preliminary Montana Implied Consent Advisory and asked him for a breath sample. Hutchin agreed and provided a breath sample that yielded a blood alcohol content of 0.227. The legal BAC in Montana is 0.08. Drivers who are behind the wheel of a running motor vehicle must have a BAC lower than that, whether or not it is moving.

Boone then called to have Hutchin's truck towed and allowed Patricia Hutchin to remove their belongings, including the pistol, from the truck.

Hutchin was taken to the Mineral County Jail in Superior, where he failed a field sobriety test and gave a second breath sample. His final BAC was 0.197.

Hutchin was released from jail at 7 a.m. Feb. 2 on a $1,185 bail.

"He was processed just like everybody else that gets a DUI," said Mineral County Sheriff Hugh Hopwood.

Hutchin has been charged with a second offense DUI, which carries a fine of up to $1,085, six months in prison, an alcohol awareness class, and possible loss of his vehicle and driver's license. He has also been charged with disorderly conduct, which carries a fine of up to $85 and a maximum of 10 days in jail. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Hutchin received his previous DUI in Lake County April 24, 2006. He was traveling on Highway 93 at milepost 65 when he was arrested for drunk driving. During that case, Lake County Judge Chuck Wall excused himself because of a conflict of interest.

"You can get a lot of scrutiny with a case like this. But I assure you, everyone is treated the same," Hopwood said.

Hutchin's pretrial hearing is set for March 4, at 10 a.m. in Mineral County.