Woman charged with ramming car with infant on board

A woman accused of intentionally slamming her car into a vehicle which her 7-month-old son was in has been released to stay with her mother until her court hearing.

Tianna Sutherland was arrested on charges of criminal endangerment, partner or family member assault, criminal mischief, driving without a valid driver’s license, unlawful possession of an intoxicating substance, assault, disorderly conduct and reckless driving. She pleaded not guilty to all the charges April 8 at her arraignment.

On March 20, Hill County Sheriff’s office received a call that two women were fighting on U.S. Highway 87.

After a few more reports and officers looking for the women who were reportedly fighting, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper found Sutherland riding in a black truck.

The man who was driving the truck carrying Sutherland said he was on Road 100 headed south toward Highway 87 when he saw Sutherland waving him down. He saw she was crying and had scrapes on her arms and intended to give her a ride home.

Deputies told the driver he was free to go.

Court documents say Sutherland, who was in the back of the trooper’s car now, was crying, had scrapes on her arms and hand and blood on her left palm, and she smelled of alcohol.

Sutherland told deputies that she’d been drinking all day and that she’d been assaulted by her ex-boyfriend and his two sisters. Files say Sutherland had a difficult time giving an account of the event because she was very inebriated.

Deputies drove, with Sutherland in the car, to her ex-boyfriend’s house.

The ex-boyfriend told deputies that he, his sisters and Sutherland’s 7-month-old son were in the car, on their way to pick up one of the sister’s cars, when they ran into Sutherland, who was driving a black car.

Court documents say the ex-boyfriend said Sutherland stopped her car fully, then suddenly accelerated and hit the bumper of the his car hard enough to cause the heads of those in his vehicle to jerk forward.

The ex-boyfriend said they drove back to his residence and one of his sisters took his 7-month-old son into the house. It was then that he noticed that Sutherland, who was two blocks down the road, had driven into a ditch while trying to turn her car around.

The ex-boyfriend said he drove with one of his sisters to see if Sutherland was OK. When they got there, files say, he saw Sutherland fighting with someone in the front seat area. When Sutherland saw him, documents say, she got out of the car and tried to instigate a fight by pushing him repeatedly. Sutherland lost her balance and fell into the ditch, files say.

The ex-boyfriend said Sutherland got into his car and began fighting with his sister. He said he pulled Sutherland out of his car, and when he did, he fell backward, causing Sutherland also to fall to the ground, files say.

The ex-boyfriend and his sister went back to his house and the person Sutherland was fighting in the car had taken off with the car. Files say Sutherland came to his house and yelled at him and his sisters, trying to entice them to fight. He said he told his sisters not to fight, but to call 911.

A short time later Sutherland waved down a truck and she took off in it.

Charging documents say deputies saw the bumper crack in the ex-boyfriend’s vehicle and noted there was no other damage to the car. Files say the statements about the incident from the ex-boyfriend’s sisters were “almost exactly” like his. One sister added that she had hit Sutherland in self-defense, the documents say.