Dec. 10 – A woman who allegedly fought with police after her arrest in connection with a series of incidents in various stages of undress last year has been given a pair of suspended sentences in Flathead County District Court.
Ashley Lynn Dryden, 33, was charged with assault on a peace officer and misdemeanor driving under the influence and assault with bodily fluids after her collision with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office on April 17, 2023. Officers began searching for her after receiving reports of a woman walking naked from the waist down through Martin City shouting obscenities.
While arriving officers were unable to locate the partially nude woman in Martin City, they received subsequent reports of a theft at a gas station near the intersection of US 2 and Montana 40. The suspected shoplifter was described as a woman with no shoes or bare feet, court records say documents said. One witness described her pushing a red Ford Escape.
Officers identified Dryden as the woman after arriving at the intersection, according to court documents. While noticing the odor of an alcoholic beverage on her and an empty vodka bottle in the passenger seat of the Escape, as well as two suspected marijuana pipes, they attempted to subject her to a field sobriety test, according to court documents.
When she allegedly refused, officers arrested her and planned to have her blood drawn at a medical facility in Kalispell.
According to court documents, Dryden became violent during the trip to Kalispell. She kicked the cage of the law enforcement vehicle she was riding in and hit her head on it. When officers stopped to seat her again, she tried to kick them.
Once in Kalispell, Dryden began yelling and cursing at officers, at one point getting on the roof of a law enforcement vehicle, according to court documents. In the ensuing scuffle, a deputy suffered injuries to his knee, elbow and lower back.
She later allegedly spit on a detention center officer after officers took her to the county jail.
Although she initially maintained her innocence, Dryden entered into a plea deal in February 2024 in which prosecutors agreed to drop the bodily fluid assault charge.
She pleaded guilty to assaulting a peace officer and driving under the influence before Judge Dan Wilson on Feb. 22.
At her sentencing on April 11, Wilson imposed a four-year suspended sentence for the crime and a six-month prison sentence with full consequences, but seven days suspended for the crime. Dryden was given credit for 16 days served and ordered to undergo a chemical dependency evaluation.
News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.
