SOMERS — Many drivers are familiar with the "dummy Doug" who sits in the Speed Farm Automotive parking lot in Somers, along the northwest shore of Flathead Lake.
Shannon Farmer, the owner of Speed Farm Automotive, set up the passive speed trap about five years ago when he noticed people were flying down the highway.
"There's a lot of accidents here and people speed down this hill because it's 65, 55 to 45, and traffic bunches up," explained Farmer.
Security cameras at Farmer's shop showed that at around 2 a.m. on Sunday a vehicle came off the side of the road and slammed into the fake patrol car.
"It slammed into it, did a barrel roll, went right by my one-ton (pickup truck) and almost hit the coffee stand," said Farmer.
Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Brian Thorne says the crash is currently still under investigation.
After the vehicle hit the patrol car, Jesse Lasater-Keller told MTN News the car came dangerously close to hitting her coffee hut, Sudden Rush.
"It was a little scary actually, it was inches away from hitting the coffee shop, so it could've had a very different drastic outcome for sure," said Lasater-Keller.
Trooper Thorne says the driver of the vehicle later went to the hospital for treatment of his injuries; there is no word yet on what charges the driver may face.
Farmer says he hopes to have a brand new patrol car out in place of this old damaged one by Monday night.
