Chaos On I-90: Wrong-Way Driver Sparks Near-Catastrophe

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - At approximately 2:15 a.m. on May 2, 2025, a Missoula County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a report of a wrong-way driver at the 88-mile marker of Interstate 90. The caller reported the vehicle was sideways in the roadway. It then continued all over the roadway and into the ditch three times.

The vehicle corrected its travel from Westbound in the Eastbound lanes and continued East on I-90. As the deputy was responding, the caller reported the vehicle had pulled off and was reversing on the shoulder. In another instance, he reported that a semi had to lock its brakes to avoid colliding with the vehicle, which the vehicle had turned in front of.

When the deputy got on I-90, the vehicle continued Eastbound, and the reporting party was following it with hazards on. The deputy positioned himself at the 96-mile marker median crossing. The deputy observed the suspect vehicle travel over the white line and onto the shoulder. It then re-entered the roadway and swerved towards the other lane.  

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As it passed, the deputy followed behind it and immediately activated his light bar to initiate a traffic stop. The vehicle came to a stop on the right shoulder of the roadway. The deputy instructed the driver, later identified as 29-year-old Jose Bautista-Cruz, to turn off the vehicle, which the driver did not do. The deputy then asked him to stick his hands out of the window, which he did. 

According to the deputy, there was a language barrier as Bautista spoke Spanish. The deputy noticed Bautista’s eyes were extremely bloodshot and had a grey appearance. The deputy asked him to step out of the vehicle and walk towards the front of his patrol car. When he did, he noticed there were beer cans on the front passenger floorboard.  

The deputy observed 7/18 clues of impairment during Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. The deputy also checked for lack of convergence, which he observed in both of Bautista’s eyes. The deputy’s training and experience indicate that a lack of convergence suggests impairment by drugs other than alcohol. Bautista agreed to provide a preliminary breath sample, which was negative for the presence of alcohol. 

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The deputy asked Bautista if he took any medication or drugs. According to court documents, he admitted to taking methamphetamine. He claimed he had used the last of it approximately two hours prior to the stop.  

The deputy placed Bautista under arrest. Shortly after, Bautista told officers that the methamphetamine was in the vehicle and gave them permission to retrieve it. A glass pipe with what appeared to be white powdery residue was seized and kept as evidence.

The deputy transported Bautista to Saint Patrick’s Hospital for a blood draw, and then he was taken to jail. He is currently being charged with felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs, DUI first offense, and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.  

The information in this article was obtained from sources that are publicly viewable.