BILLINGS — Two single-vehicle crashes took place over the New Year's weekend, leaving two dead and one hospitalized.
According to Montana Highway Patrol, the first crash occurred at 10:47 p.m. New Year's Eve. A vehicle traveling westbound on Interstate 90 lost control near mile marker 449 west of the 27th Street exit. The vehicle went through a fence and into a Yellowstone County Detention Facility storage shed.
The passenger, 34-year-old Glen Myers, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries.
No charges have been filed as of Tuesday evening.
The second crash of the night happened just minutes into 2023. At 12:02 a.m. a driver headed east on King Avenue West and launched over a roundabout at the intersection of 56th Street West and King. According to troopers, the vehicle was airborne for 144 feet before hitting a light pole. The driver, 23-year-old Brooklin Warren, was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead on the scene.
Montana Highway Patrol says speed and alcohol are suspected factors in both crashes.
Montana Highway Patrol Sergeant Jay Nelson said the agency saw 2,225 driving under the influence arrests in 2022. That's a 32 percent increase from 2020, when troopers made 1,686 arrests for DUIs.
