News stories and articles on Dan

By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Missoulian | Posted: Saturday, March 13, 2010 10:52 pm

ALBERTON – The two freckle-faced cousins found bliss in this less-than-a-square-mile town, trolling its backcountry for adventure and traveling no farther than the downtown cafe for family and friendship.

Daniel Hanson and Kent Fisher were first cousins, roommates and best friends, and they were riding side-by-side in Hanson’s Subaru station wagon on the evening of Aug. 4, 2008, returning home from a barbecue, when a drunken driver appeared out of the blackness and smashed head-on into the men.

“I will always remember them, side-by-side, pilot and copilot, inside that maroon-colored Subaru traveling around Montana,” wrote Dan’s father, Mark Hanson, in a victim impact statement to a Missoula judge. “Who could have ever foreseen they would both come to harm, in that very car, by a reckless drunk driver in such a heinous way?”

Daniel Hanson, 25, was killed instantly, while Fisher, 20, hung on for more than a week before he died at a Seattle hospital, just two days after his cousin’s funeral. They were both the grandsons of Alberton Mayor Joe Hanson, and their deaths devastated the tiny town of 420 people.

“These are town boys. More so even than the average town boy because so many people know them,” said Keren Wales, the owner of Montana Valley Bookstore, a social hub of downtown Alberton.

“Joe is our mayor and these are his grandsons,” she continued. “They help him all the time at the junkyard and baling hay. We’re crushed in the heart for what happened, and we’re crushed for Joe. In a town of 400 people, we become very close-knit. And to have it be a drunk driver going the wrong way on the freeway. It just exasperates.”

*****

It’s been more than 18 months since the accident and the town is still reeling. Its residents found little solace in the lengthy prison sentence of the offending driver, and even less comfort in the knowledge that similar tragedies occur almost daily in every corner of the state.

“It’s tough,” says Mayor Hanson. “It’s really tough. But we all have to assume responsibility. We condemn him on the one hand, but at some point we have to address Montana’s culture of alcoholism.”

Montana consistently ranks first in the nation for the number of alcohol-related fatal wrecks per miles driven, and last year drunken drivers were responsible for 40 percent of Montana’s highway fatalities, according to figures from the state Highway Patrol’s records management department. As of last week, alcohol-related fatalities already comprised 25 percent of the total number of highway fatalities in 2010, just as they did last year at this time.

In the last five years, 34 Montanans have been convicted of the felony charge of vehicular homicide while under the influence, according to records maintained by the Department of Corrections.

One of those felons is Lonnie Ray Hylton, a decorated Air Force veteran from Great Falls. Hylton had been in an alcoholic blackout for days when he climbed behind the wheel of his Dodge pickup truck 18 months ago and drove onto Interstate 90 heading the wrong way.

With a blood-alcohol content of 0.32, four times the legal limit, and with his headlights shut off, Hylton hurtled through the gloaming and ran several motorists off the road, injuring a woman.

As the dusk grew deeper and deeper, Hylton continued on his path for four miles before he collided with the oncoming Subaru near Airway Boulevard, killing the two cousins from Alberton.

Hylton, who had no criminal record before the crash, was convicted of two counts of vehicular homicide while under the influence and three counts of criminal endangerment. At sentencing, he said he didn’t remember the deadly crash, nor did he recall anything from the two days before.

Missoula District Judge Ed McLean sent the man to prison for 60 years, with 30 years suspended, and ordered him to pay restitution to the victims’ families.

Deputy Missoula County Attorney Jennifer Clark said Hylton had been disciplined for drinking during his time in the Air Force, and on the night of the crash he ran a family of five off the road while on his “deadly path.” The outcome, she said, could have been far worse.

“The citizens of our state are being murdered by their fellow citizens, and that is not OK,” Clark said.

*****

Six days after the crash, more than 100 people gathered at the town park to mourn Dan Hanson’s loss and celebrate the boys’ lives by telling stories, laughing and playing music in the sunlit field along the Clark Fork River.

Mark Hanson talked about how his son, Dan, and his nephew, Kent – who would die two days later, enjoyed Montana’s rivers and streams, its remote hot springs and fresh huckleberries, and the fact that they could grow a garden and have campfires in their own backyard.

On a recent March morning, Mayor Hanson stood in the same park and reflected on the community’s struggle to learn from the accident, pointing at the taverns along Railroad Avenue, bedecked with banners advertising beer sales and happy hours.

“We’re like a lot of small towns. We’ve got five churches and five watering holes,” Hanson said. “We’ve tried to evolve from a hard-drinking, hard-working Western town where drinking and driving is a rite of passage.”

Hanson said the deaths of his grandsons galvanized the town of Alberton, just as he’s seen other small communities jolted by similar tragedies. But once the shocks wear off, Hanson isn’t sure that anything changes.

“It shakes you out of your habits, your patterns, but then you go right back to doing the same thing,” he said. “The time has come to put that notion of a hard-drinking culture to rest for good. It hasn’t been valid since the railroad days.”

*****

Mineral County Attorney Shaun Donovan said no one is immune to the hazards of drunken driving, and sending offenders to prison is one way to deter their behaviors.

“The deaths of the boys from Alberton are a reality check that drunk drivers have the ability to kill any of us who use the roads, and in rural Montana, that is all of us,” Donovan said. “Too often they are given special treatment because they do not intend the consequences of their crashes. In actuality, these offenders are a bona fide threat to the community and need to be treated like dangerous people.”

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Richard Hader is also a member of the Alberton City Council, and although he didn’t live in Alberton when Kent and Dan were killed, he’s seen the devastation of drinking and driving firsthand in communities across the state, both in his professional and personal lives.

“Alberton is a pretty close-knit little town, as you would expect in a community of 400 people, and to have two of its residents killed is going to have ripple effects for a long time,” he said. “We’re all absolutely sick and tired around here of drunk drivers tearing families and communities apart. We’re all waiting for someone to stand up and take the bull by the horns.”

When Hader was 20 years old, his oldest brother died while driving drunk near Lakeside. His father was an alcoholic, too, and would start drinking at 10 a.m. while he was working.

“He was one of those guys who was probably a functioning 0.15 all of the time,” Hader said. “He’d get off work, go to the bar for four or five hours, get up the next day at 5 in the morning and do it all over again.”

“This is hitting home more and more every day,” he said. “And it’s something that can be prevented, no doubt about it. People are going to drink, and they’re going to make their decisions. We just hope they don’t get behind a 4,000-pound missile.”

Reporter Tristan Scott can be reached at 523-5264 or at tscott@missoulian.com.

When a Missoula judge pronounced Lonnie Ray Hylton's 30-year prison sentence on Wednesday, he spoke over a mournful chorus of grief-stricken family members.

Seated in rows on the wooden benches, everyone who filed into the crowded courtroom was devastated by Hylton's actions, but they cried for different reasons - the broken-down parents because they will never recoup their losses, the son because he will grow up without a father.

Hylton, 40, of Great Falls, also cried. He was in an alcoholic blackout when he climbed behind the wheel of his pickup truck and drove the wrong way on Interstate 90. With a blood alcohol content of .32, four times the legal limit, and with his headlights shut off, Hylton ran several motorists off the road before colliding with an oncoming Subaru near Airway Boulevard, killing two young men from Alberton.

The loudest sobbing came from Martha Smith, whose 25-year-old son, Daniel Hanson, died instantly in the August 2008 crash. Eight days later, and just two days after the funeral, Hanson's cousin, 20-year-old Kent Fisher, passed away at a Seattle hospital. The cousins were best friends and were driving home from a barbecue at the time of the crash.

“I'm just really mad at him,” Smith cried out during the hearing, speaking to no one in particular. She'd intended to speak on her son's behalf, but was too distraught.

Hylton, a decorated Air Force veteran with no criminal record, spoke softly as he apologized to the family members, and kept his head bowed during most of the hearing.

“I realize that nothing I say or do could ever make up for the loss to these families,” Hylton said. “There's no words to express how sorry I am. I just wish I could trade places with them.”

Two rows behind Smith, Hylton's wife of 20 years and his 12-year-old son held one another, watching as guards led their beloved father and husband away in shackles. Hylton's mother, Patricia Kingen, talked about what a loving father her son had always been, and how he'd saved a man's life in the Air Force in 1992.

“The court is well aware of your past accomplishments,” 4th Judicial District Judge Ed McLean told Hylton before pronouncing the sentence. “But there is absolutely no excuse for getting into a vehicle with total disregard for the lives of others. We are fortunate that more than two people didn't lose their lives as a result of your actions.”

Both victims were the grandsons of Alberton Mayor Joe Hanson, who stood outside the courtroom in tears after the sentencing, and spoke of the need to reform Montana's culture of drinking.

“It's tough,” he said. “It's really tough. But we all have to assume responsibility. We condemn him on the one hand, but at some point we have to address Montana's culture of alcoholism.”

Hylton was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide while under the influence and three counts of criminal endangerment. He recently entered Alford pleas to the charges, which has the same effect as a guilty plea, and is comparable to a plea of no contest. Hylton said he doesn't remember the deadly crash, nor does he recall anything from the two days prior.

On Wednesday, McLean sentenced him to a total of 60 years in the Montana State Prison with 30 years suspended, and ordered him to pay restitution to the victims' families.

Deputy Missoula County Attorney Jennifer Clark called for a lengthy sentence in the case. As far back as his time in the Air Force, he was disciplined for drinking, she said. She pointed out that on the night of the crash, Hylton also ran a family of five off the road while on his “deadly path.” Another woman was injured, she said, and the outcome could have been far worse.

“The citizens of our state are being murdered by their fellow citizens, and that is not OK,” Clark said. “This case warrants a lengthy incarceration.”

Great Falls man enters pleas in double-fatal crash

March 27, 2009

MISSOULA (AP) — A Great Falls man accused of driving drunk on the wrong side of Interstate 90 and causing a crash that killed two people entered Alford pleas to several felony charges Friday.

Lonnie Ray Hylton, 40, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol and three counts of criminal endangerment for an Aug. 4 crash near Missoula. Killed were 25-year-old Daniel Hanson and his cousin Kent Fisher, 20, both of Alberton.

In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to obtain a guilty verdict.
Prosecutors say Hylton was intoxicated when he drove his pickup truck onto an interstate exit and continued for for four miles before the crash. Hylton told troopers that he had been drinking beer before the crash and should not have been driving because he was intoxicated, according to court documents.

Hanson died instantly, and Fisher was treated for injuries at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center before he died Aug. 12. The men, who were grandsons of Alberton Mayor Joe Hanson, were returning from a barbecue at the time of the crash.

District Judge Ed McLean scheduled a May 27 sentencing hearing for Hylton, who faces up to 90 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Hylton enters pleas in vehicular homicide charges

by Richard Werst

Lonnie Ray Hylton, 40, the Great Falls man accused of causing the deaths of Alberton Mayor Joe Hanson's grandsons, entered pleas of not guilty to the charges of vehicular homicide and criminal endangerment Wednesday.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 80 years in prison and $200,000 in fines.

Appearing via closed-circuit video from the Missoula County Jail, Hylton responded to charges stemming from the head-on collision that occurred Aug. 4 on I-90 near Airway Boulevard in Missoula. Daniel Hanson and Kent Fisher died as a result of the collision. Hylton allegedly drove the wrong way on I-90, entering the freeway at the Wye and traveling east in the westbound lanes.

Still confined to a wheelchair as a result of the injuries he suffered in the accident, the defendant showed little emotion when Judge Ed McLean asked if he understood each of the charges, and if he understood the maximum penalties that the court could impose if he was found guilty.

McLean read each of the charges: “Count one: Vehicular Homicide while under the influence a felony that carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison and or a $50,000 fine. Count Two: Vehicular Homicide while under the influence, a felony that carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison and or a $50,000 fine. Count Three: Criminal endangerment, a felony that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and or a a $50,000 fine. Count Four: Criminal Endangerment, a felony that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and or a $50,000 fine.”

In answer to each count, Hylton entered a plea of not guilty.

The attorney representing Hylton said that while realizing that these are very serious charges, Mr. Hylton "is maintaining his innocence on those charges; he is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty and I don't believe he is a flight risk at all. This is due to the fact, one reason is he suffered severe injuries in the accident: he has a ruptured spleen; a bladder; four broken vertebra in his back and neck; a broken leg, and a broken wrist. He just got out of the hospital and is very immobile right now; and is likely to require more medical – care that it may be problematic for him to get while incarcerated."

During his first appearance in Justice Court, Hylton told the court that he and his wife were residents of Great Falls – that he was a member of, and worked part time for, the Montana Air National Guard; and that prior to joining the Guard he was a 20-year veteran of the United States Air Force.

Citing his injuries in the crash, and that the defendant had: “absolutely no criminal record whatsoever, and he is willing to abide by any restrictions that the court may assess,” the public defender had originally asked that Hylton be released on his own recognizance, or on $10,000 bail.

“He may very well be a military veteran; he may well not have any record – prior record, but this is more than serious,” Justice of the Peace John E. Odlin said in response to the request. “He went the wrong way on the interstate, an alleged violation, under the influence of alcohol, an alleged violation, two people are dead,” he continued. “As far as this court is concerned there is a significant community safety risk here to let this person back out on the road again.”

Bail was set in the amount of $500,000, with the stipulations that: “If you (Hylton) are released on bail there is absolutely no consumption of alcohol or drugs. You must not enter an establishment that supplies or serves alcohol; must remain in Missoula or Cascade County; be sure and stay in weekly contact with your public defender; appear personally at all scheduled court appearances, and obey all laws.”

The next hearing in the case--to discuss the possibility of release until trial--is set for next Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 8:30 a.m.

An omnibus hearing is set for Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 8:30 a.m. The purpose of the omnibus hearing, according to Montana Code Annotated, is to expedite the procedures leading up to the trial of the defendant, and to discuss any pretrial matter appropriate to the case.

Due to the importance of this trial to our readers, the Chronicle will continue to follow this case as it makes its way through the court system – providing updates as they become available in both our print edition and on our website, clarkforkchronicle.com. Audio recordings, additional pictures, and a transcript of selected legal hearings are available.

Hylton remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail. He is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide while under the influence and additional charges of felony criminal endangerment. Several oncoming vehicles had to swerve to avoid Hylton before he collided with Hanson's Subaru, according to court papers.

At the scene of the crash, Hylton told troopers that he had been drinking beer before the crash and should not have been driving because he was intoxicated, records state. If convicted of the charges, Hylton faces a maximum punishment of 80 years in the Montana State Prison.

Sixty seconds after a Montana Highway Patrol trooper was dispatched to reports of a motorist driving the wrong way on Interstate 90, the driver's pickup truck collided head-on with a Subaru, killing two men from Alberton.

Those details and others emerged Friday in court papers charging 39-year-old Lonnie Ray Hylton with two counts of vehicular homicide while under the influence and two counts of criminal endangerment, all felonies.

The papers, filed in Missoula County Justice Court, relate to an Aug. 4 interstate collision near Airway Boulevard. Hylton was allegedly intoxicated when he entered the westbound interstate exit at the Wye intersection and proceeded to drive east in the westbound lane for four miles before colliding with the oncoming car at mile marker 99.

The wreck killed Daniel Hanson, 25, and his cousin Kent Fisher. Both men were grandsons of Alberton Mayor Joe Hanson and were returning from a barbecue at the time of the crash. Hanson died instantly, while Fisher was treated for injuries at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center before he died on Aug. 12.

Hylton, of Great Falls, made his initial court appearance one day after being released from a Missoula hospital, where he was treated for serious injuries of his own. Appearing over a live telecast from jail, Hylton sat in a wheelchair wearing a back brace.

Deputy Missoula County Attorney Jennifer Clark asked Justice of the Peace John Odlin to set bail at $500,000, noting the serious nature of the allegations.

“This was a crash where the driver was on the wrong side of the highway, drove two vehicles off the road that were carrying two families and then collided head-on with a car, killing two people,” Clark said.

A public defender who appeared alongside Hylton asked Odlin to release the man on his own recognizance. The lawyer said Hylton ruptured his spleen and bladder in the wreck, broke his back and ruptured four vertebrae. He also touted Hylton's military history and lack of a criminal record. The lawyer also emphasized that the charges are only allegations, and said Hylton is maintaining his innocence.

But Odlin ultimately sided with the state, setting bail at a half-million dollars.

“This is more than serious,” Odlin said. “You went the wrong way on the interstate. That's an allegation, but two people are dead. You pose a significant community safety problem.”

Hylton is charged with felony criminal endangerment because of the two vehicles he allegedly ran off of the interstate.

Travis Dennison told authorities he was driving his car west on I-90 with his wife and three daughters at around 9:30 p.m. when he saw a maroon Dodge Dakota pickup truck approaching. Dennison pulled over to avoid a collision.

Lisa Martinez was driving with her mother just west of Butler Creek Bridge when she saw the Dodge approaching. She was forced to swerve left into the median to avoid a head-on crash. Martinez said Hylton stopped, got out of his truck, briefly inspected the undercarriage and then drove off again.

Hylton told troopers that he had been drinking beer before the crash and should not have been driving because he was intoxicated, records state.

If convicted of the charges, Hylton faces a maximum punishment of 80 years in the Montana State Prison.

The tiny town of Alberton is reeling after a tragic car wreck killed Mayor Joe Hanson's grandson Monday evening and left another of his grandsons critically injured.

Daniel Hanson, 25, died when a drunken driver going the wrong way on Interstate 90 collided head-on with his Subaru station wagon. Hanson's cousin, Kent Fisher, 20, a passenger in the car, remains hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he's listed in critical condition.

“These are town boys. Moreso even than the average town boy because so many people know them,” said Keren Wales, the owner of Montana Valley Bookstore, a social hub of downtown Alberton. “Joe is our mayor and these are his grandsons. They help him all the time at the junkyard and baling hay. We're crushed in the heart for what happened, and we're crushed for Joe. In a town of 400 people, we become very close knit. And to have it be a drunk driver going the wrong way on the freeway. It just exasperates.”

Mayor Hanson could not be reached for comment, but his former wife, Violet “Vi” Barr, the grandmother of the victims, said the men were returning from a barbecue at the time of the collision, which occurred shortly before 9:30 p.m. at mile marker 99, near Airway Boulevard.

“Everybody's hurting. It could have been any one of us,” Barr said. “They were just trying to get back home. It's just such a devastating eye-opener.”

Barr, who owns the Sidetrack Cafe, said Alberton residents have been calling the restaurant constantly for updates on her grandson's condition, which will depend on the outcome of several operations.

“The whole town is heartbroken,” Barr said. “The phone rings more because people are trying to figure out the latest on Kent than it does for anything related to food items.”

Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Scott Hoffman said Lonnie Ray Hylton, 39, of Great Falls, was highly intoxicated when he drove his maroon Dodge pickup truck onto the eastbound interstate exit ramp at the Wye intersection and proceeded the wrong way down the westbound lane.

Hylton remains hospitalized following the collision, but investigators have recommended that the Missoula County attorney file charges of vehicular homicide while under the influence and criminal endangerment. Several oncoming vehicles had to swerve to avoid Hylton before he collided with Hanson's Subaru, Hoffman said.

The tragedy in Alberton smacks of another recent fatal car wreck that took the lives of four Denton teenagers. The single-vehicle rollover occurred on July 19 and sent the town reeling as residents came to grips with the loss.

Alberton has had its share of tragedy in the past year, too. Alberton native Mark Zylawy, 40, died in January when he was hit by a semitrailer on Interstate 5 near Portland, Ore., after his pickup stalled.

“It seems like we've had an awful lot of deaths in our community,” Barr said. “It's been hard.”

A Great Falls man makes his first court appearance on charges of driving under the influence and colliding head on with a car killing the two men inside.

Lonnie Ray Hylton, 39, is accused of driving the wrong way on Interstate 90 last week colliding head on with vehicle carrying two Alberton men.

The two men Daniel Hanson, 25, and Kent Fisher, 20, both died from the accident.

Hylton is a veteran and works part-time at the Montana Air National Guard in Great Falls. His attorney requested him to be released based on him being a veteran and having no prior convictions but the judge denied that request.

Hylton is being held at the Missoula County Detention Facility on $500,000 bail on charges of vehicular homicide while under the influence and criminal endangerment.

A Great Falls man who's accused of driving the wrong way on Interstate 90 and killing two Alberton men has been released from the hospital.

Lonnie Ray Hylton, 39, was arrested upon his release for the deaths of Kent Fisher, 20, and Daniel Hanson, 25.

Hylton is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide while under the influence and two counts of criminal endangerment.

The crash occurred on the evening of Monday, Aug. 4th. The Montana Highway Patrol said a pickup driven by Hylton went the wrong way on the interstate, colliding with the station wagon carrying Fisher and Hanson.

The passenger involved in a head-on collision on Interstate 90 last week in Missoula died on Tuesday morning.

The Montana Highway Patrol tells us Kent Fisher, 20, was riding in a Subaru station wagon with Daniel Hanson, 25, down Interstate 90.

That's when a pickup driven by Lonny Ray Hylton, 39, of Great Falls was heading the wrong way on the interstate and collided with the station wagon head-on near the Airway Boulevard Exit.

Hylton meanwhile is still in the hospital and now faces two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal endangerment.

A Great Falls man faces charges of vehicular homicide while under the influence for driving the wrong way on Interstate 90 and killing an Alberton man.

The Missoula County Attorney's offices also filed charges of vehicular assault and two counts of criminal endangerment against Lonny Ray Hylton, 39.

The accident happened Monday night on I-90 near the Airway Boulevard exit west of Missoula. Montana Highway Patrol says Hylton's pickup was driving the wrong way when it collided with a station wagon carrying Daniel Hanson, 25, and Kent Fischer, 20.

Hanson died that night. Fisher, also from Alberton, continues to recover at a Seattle hospital.

An Alberton man is still fighting for his life after being involved in a head-on collision on Interstate 90 on Monday night.

Officials with the Montana Highway Patrol tell us that Kent Fisher, 20, was riding in a Subaru station wagon with Daniel Joseph Hanson, 25, on I-90 when their vehicle was hit.

A pickup truck driven by Lonny Ray Hylton, 39, of Great Falls was heading the wrong way on the freeway and hit the station wagon head-on near the Airway Boulevard Exit west of Missoula, killing Hanson.

Montana Highway Patrol officials tell us alcohol played a role in the deadly crash.

Authorities identify the man killed in a head-on collision on Interstate 90 around 9:30 p.m. Monday night.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Drew Novak says Lonny Ray Hylton, 39, of Great Falls was driving a maroon Dodge truck the wrong way on I-90 near Airway Boulevard in Missoula. That's when the vehicle struck a Subaru station wagon head-on.

The driver of the station wagon Daniel Joseph Hanson, 25, of Alberton, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The passenger Kent Fisher, 20, also from Alberton was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with critical injuries.

Witnesses say Hylton got on at the Wye exit going the wrong way. At least two other vehicles were forced off the road to avoid being hit by Hylton. One female was slightly injured.

One man died and another was hurt after the vehicle they were riding in rolled over on Interstate 90 in Missoula on Monday night.

Few details are available at this time, but we do know that the wreck occurred at 9:30 p.m. on I-90 westbound near Airway Boulevard in Missoula.

Meanwhile, we are getting reports of a traffic accident near Turah in which five people were injured.

We'll bring you more information on both of theses accidents as soon as it becomes available.

Interstate 90 westbound near Airway Boulevard in Missoula is closed due to a rollover accident.

Information is still coming in, but we've learned that two people were injured when the vehicle they were in rolled over shortly after 9:30 p.m.

We don't know the conditions of the two men, but traffic in the area is being rerouted to Airway Boulevard and Expressway while emergency officials attend to the victims.

If you would like to drop Mark a line and share a memory of Dan you may email him at: unionman@montana.com or write Mark at: P. O. Box 17245 Missoula, MT 59808.

Under the influence: Alberton still mourning deaths of two cousins killed by drunken driver in 2008

Great Falls man enters pleas in double-fatal crash

Hylton enters pleas in vehicular homicide charges