GILLETTE — A local man remains in jail after pleading guilty to his third DUI in less than four years after speeding his Porsche through downtown Gillette Sunday night and barreling into a guardrail, rolling his car and attempting to flee on foot.
Dustin W. Ostert, 39, was charged with five misdemeanors, including driving under the influence, a second offense of driving under suspension, driving without an interlock offense as well as failure to maintain lane and reckless driving.
Ostert pleaded guilty to three of the charges Tuesday in Campbell County Circuit Court and no contest to reckless driving and failure to maintaining a lane.
He’s being held on a $35,000 cash bond at the Campbell County Detention Center.
Bumping Curbs And Riding On Sidewalks
Ostert’s erratic driving was called in by a concerned driver who noticed the 2004 blue Porsche barreling down East 2nd Street in downtown Gillette about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
The caller noted that the driver was speeding down the road while veering into oncoming traffic, bumping curbs and driving on the sidewalk, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
It’s not clear how fast Ostert was speeding, said Brent Wasson, Gillette deputy chief of police.
“We know, based on evidence from the scene, the vehicle was traveling well above the posted 30 mph speed limit,” Wasson said.
After turning right onto 4-J Road, Ostert proceeded to speed up before drifting to the right and hitting a guardrail, causing the vehicle to roll three to four times — later determined to be a distance of about 351 feet — before landing on the driver’s side, court documents state.
Ostert somehow managed to get out of the damaged vehicle and attempt to flee the scene but was apprehended by two male eyewitnesses and the responding Gillette Police Department officers, who managed to get him into handcuffs.
When Ostert sat upright, the officer immediately smelled an “overwhelming odor of an alcoholic beverage” and noted Ostert’s eyes were “bloodshot” and “watery” with “abnormally dilated” pupils, according to the affidavit.
Ostert further “displayed difficulty sitting upright and keeping his head up,” and also had blood on his left arm and an abrasion on his elbow. When told he was under arrest, Ostert had trouble comprehending the charges, according to the affidavit. And after about six minutes of confusion, he lost consciousness and was transported by EMS to Campbell County Memorial Hospital.
Blue Nostrils
Once at the hospital, he remained unconscious for about an hour where both police and the attending nurses noted the interior of Ostert’s nostrils were blue with a “chunk of an unknown white substance” caught in the hairs of his right nostril, according to court documents.
Once awake, Ostert repeatedly asked what had happened, despite police explaining the details of the accident to him multiple times while he went in and out of consciousness. At one point while alert, Ostert told police that he was not OK and that he had messed up and it was his fault, court documents state.
Oster later consented to a blood draw once alert, but then became “irate” with the officer, “leveling racial and religious insults” at him, the affidavit states.
This was Ostert’s third DUI in less than four years, following earlier convictions in June 2020 and July 2023 for which he was still on both supervised and unsupervised probation.
‘Lucky To Be Alive’
Charges aside, industry experts say that Ostert is very lucky to have survived.
This was a major crash by any standard, said Vince Bodiford, publisher of TheWeekendDrive.com, regardless of what type of vehicle Ostert was driving.
“It’s certainly not more or less significant if he was in a Porsche or in a Hummer,” Bodiford said. “He’s lucky to be alive.”
Steve Janisse, head of automotive media for The Weekend Drive, agreed. He used to head up communications for Porsche North American’s arm and said though Porsche is known for building fast but safe cars, this was a severe crash.
The charging affidavit does not specify what model Ostert was driving but guesses it was likely a version of the Porsche 911, which was the best-selling model in 2004.
Given the impact withstood by the vehicle, Janisse said it may have also been a Cayenne, which was the automaker’s first sports utility vehicle released in 2002.
“It’s built like a tank,” Janisse said.
Regardless of what model he was driving, Janisse conceded that Ostert is very lucky to be alive.
New, the 2004 Porsche 911 cost anywhere from $69,365 up to $193,000, according to CARFAX, and today retails for around $45,000.
Ostert’s sentencing date is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 24 at Campbell County Circuit Court. He faces up to two years in jail and fines in excess of $4,500 for the five misdemeanors.
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
