Laporte Woman Arrested for DUI After Crash South of Bemidji

Victoria Whitefeather (Credit: Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office)

A Laporte woman was arrested last Friday for first-degree DUI after allegedly being involved in a crash just south of Bemidji.

A press release from the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office says that on March 14th around 10:39 a.m., their office received a call about a hit-and-run crash at the intersection of Hubbard County Road 9 and Highway 71. Deputies arrived and spoke with a 56-year-old Bemidji man who said he was stopped at the stop sign on County Road 9 in his pickup truck waiting to turn when a vehicle traveling south on Highway 71 attempted to turn onto County Road 9. That vehicle struck the front end of the pickup.

The man said the other driver, 34-year-old Victoria Whitefeather of Laporte, exited her vehicle and asked him not to call law enforcement because she didn’t have a driver’s license or insurance. Whitefeather then left her name and address on a piece of paper and left the scene, but the man later provided that information to Hubbard County deputies.

The report says a Conservation Officer arrived at the residence and discovered Whitefeather sleeping in the vehicle involved in the crash. Whitefeather admitted to being involved in the accident, saying she was coming from the liquor store and was going to meet a friend.

According to the release, deputies detected signs of inebriation from Whitefeather and performed a field sobriety test, which she failed. Deputies placed her under arrest for a DUI and searched her vehicle, where they found an open bottle of vodka, a bag of marijuana, three gabapentin pills, and a folded $5 bill in a Ziploc bag. At the Hubbard County Jail, Whitefeather reportedly had a BAC of .10.

Whitefeather was charged with first-degree DUI, a felony. She was convicted of another first-degree DUI in 2012 after a crash resulted in a criminal vehicular homicide charge, where she caused the death of a motorcyclist on Hubbard County Road 36.