Woman arrested for ramming cars and teenagers 'after attacking them with burning sage'

March 2024 ยท 3 minute read

Montana police have arrested a woman as shocking footage emerged of her car ramming into several teenagers and their vehicles in a hiking trail parking lot.

Officers received a 911 call that Athena Smith, 32, had been disturbing a group of 20 teenagers who had gathered at the Big M bike trail in the city of Butte.

Police Captain Mark St. Pierre said Smith had got out of her white Dodge Durango with a stick of burning sage and started waving it at the teenagers.

Athena Smith, 32, arrived at the parking lot for the Big M bike trail before 10.30pm on Tuesday, and attempted to attack a group of teenagers with a stick of burning sage

Athena Smith, 32, arrived at the parking lot for the Big M bike trail before 10.30pm on Tuesday, and attempted to attack a group of teenagers with a stick of burning sage

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Walking towards the teens, Smith allegedly tried to strike them with the sage and claimed they were 'sinners'.

It is also reported that she had a fake police badge and claimed that she was the 'new sheriff in town', according to ABC FoxMontana.

The teenagers then attempted to fight back, as one took out their phone to record what would become a terrifying six-minute ordeal.

Smith then got back in her car and started ramming nearby vehicles.

Athena Smith at the wheel Smith's Durango hits another car

At one point the video shows Athena Smith's Durango smashing into a metal barrier

At one point the video shows her smashing into a metal barrier and hitting her hands against the steering wheel. 

Smith then drives around the trail's parking lot and is alleged to have struck four of the teenagers with her car and pinned them against other vehicles.

One girl can be seen hobbling to safety with cuts across her knee. 

The video ends as Smith's Durango fled the scene and headed down Emmett Street. Police say she was driving at least 70 mph and that speed was causing her tires to leave the ground.

Smith eventually stopped her car near a dead-end on Mercury Street and Western Avenue, but refused to get out.

The Durango reverses into the front of another car One of the teenagers injured their leg in the incident

Smith drives around the trail's  parking lot and is alleged to have struck four of the teenagers with her car and pinned them against other vehicles

Police Captain Mark St. Pierre said she got into a physical altercation with the officers who were trying to get her out of her car, which ended with Smith having to be tazed.

He said that drugs or alcohol may have played a factor because Smith told an EMS personnel that she ingested methamphetamine before the incident.

The incident remains under investigation, but officers have said Smith will likely face charges including vehicular assault and resisting arrest.

The county's police department said that the teenagers' injuries were not life-threatening.

The incident happened in a parking lot for the bike trail to the Big M (pictured) just outside of Butte, Montana on Tuesday at around 10.30pm

The incident happened in a parking lot for the bike trail to the Big M (pictured) just outside of Butte, Montana on Tuesday at around 10.30pm

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