Steffens sentenced in Flathead River crash

POLSON — As expected with the plea agreement he signed in September, 25-year-old Shain Steffens was sentenced to five years in the Montana Department of Corrections for two counts of negligent homicide, last Wednesday in Lake County District Court.

Last year, Steffens crashed his sports utility vehicle into the Flathead River. The accident took the lives of two men.

According to court documents, at approximately 3 a.m. on April 10, 2010, Steffens crashed his 2002 Ford Escape sport utility vehicle into the Flathead River three miles east of Buffalo Bridge and two miles west of Kerr Dam.

Steffens drove off a 25-foot cliff before his vehicle hit a rocky outcropping and landed overturned in the river. The passenger side of the vehicle was submerged in the frigid water. Passengers Joshua Clairmont, 23, and Drew Austin, 21, died at the scene.

While the area at the top of the cliff is a popular campsite, the road continues to a drop-off, documents state. The unnamed, four-wheel drive road Steffens was driving on runs parallel to Irvine Flats Road along the river, and ends at the cliff, Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Randy Owen said in an earlier interview with the Leader.

“According to what I heard about the interview [with Steffens] is that they were a bit unfamiliar with the area and just didn’t see the road ending,” he said. “The water was down quite a bit, but had the water been up, we might have never found that vehicle.”

A blood test taken sometime after the accident did not show the presence of alcohol but did report levels of THC, indicating marijuana use. Steffens, who is from Missoula, admitted to being under the influence of marijuana and alcohol on the morning of the accident.

Steffens was sentenced on two counts, with the court committing him to 10 years in the DOC with five suspended for the first count. The second court earned Steffens 10 years with all that time suspended. He originally pled guilty to the charges in a plea agreement on Sept. 7.

The maximum possible punishment for negligent homicide is 20 years in state prison and a $50,000 fine.