A man made his initial appearance in District Court in Great Falls on Monday afternoon via video from the Chouteau County courthouse, where he is being held.
Scott Allen Jenks is charged with three counts of negligent vehicular assault, one count of criminal endangerment, and several other offenses.
Those charges stem from an incident on Saturday morning when Jenks allegedly crashed his car into a Great Falls police officer and three Great Falls firefighters while they were responding to a report of a domestic disturbance at the Highwoods Mobile Home Trailer Park just off of 38th Street North.
Court documents state that Jenks’ blood alcohol level was .236 at the time - nearly three times the legal limit for driving - and he was also reportedly speeding and ran a stop sign.
Jenks told police that he was driving home from a friend’s house and passed out or fell asleep, and did not remember the crash.
Bond for Jenks was set at $100,000.
The most seriously injured of the responders is police officer Zaine O'Meara, who sustained serious injuries to his face and shoulder and underwent emergency surgery at Benefis Health System on Saturday.
On Monday, the GFPD provided the following update on O'Meara:
- We are so grateful to report Senior Police Officer Zaine O'Meara, injured after being struck by a vehicle on 10/19/19, has been released from the hospital and is recovering with his family. O'Meara asked us to share this message with the community..."I can not explain how grateful I am for the tremendous support my family and I have received. I am especially grateful to my GFPD, Great Falls Fire Rescue , Great Falls Emergency Services first responder family, and the medical staff at Benefis Health System , who all helped me survive this incident. For me to walk away from this situation with only a broken jaw and injured shoulder is an act of God, the injured firefighters and I are very lucky to be alive. I have seen the many comments of support from community members, thank you. It's an honor to serve and I look forward to recovering quickly so I can get back out on the streets, where I am the happiest."
Great Falls Fire Rescue chief Steve Hester said that three firefighters were injured by the vehicle; he identified two of them as Carter Marsh and Jay Jarrett. The name of the third has not been released at the request of the family All were taken to Benefis for treatment; their injuries were not life-threatening.
