From the Courts - State District Court: Woman sentenced to 10 years for hitting pedestrian

Margaret Marie Bear was sentenced in state District Court to 10 years in prison after she previously pleaded guilty to striking a pedestrian May 25, 2019, with a Chevrolet Trailblazer she was driving and then fleeing the scene. 

Bear, born in 1979, was arrested on suspicion of negligent vehicular assault, failure to remain at an injury accident, failure to remain at an accident, failure to carry proof of insurance, driving under the influence and driving with an open alcohol container in the vehicle.

Court documents said police dispatch received a call May 25, 2019, at about 10:12 p.m. reporting a vehicle hit a pedestrian on the 400 Block of First Street.

The officer responding saw the Chevrolet Trail Blazer parked in the eastbound lane of traffic and found a man seriously injured, bleeding from his head with a fading pulse and shallow breathing.

Havre emergency medical technicians responded to the scene.

The officer later found out where the suspect was and went to the hotel where she was staying and located her.

Bear said she was driving and the victim “came out of nowhere,” the document said.

She said she was driving from Fresno Reservoir back to the hotel where she was staying, “saw a ‘head’ and hit the brakes,” the document said, then walked to the hotel.

She pleaded guilty July 6 to an amended charge, felony criminal endangerment, in a plea agreement.

Sept. 14, District Judge Kaydee Snipes Ruiz sentenced Bear to 10 years in Montana State Prison without eligibility for parole for the first five years and credited her with 23 days served.