Sheriff: Mont. hitchhiker shooting suspect cleared

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- A Montana sheriff says the suspect in the seemingly random shooting of a photographer hitchhiking along a rural highway has been cleared of the crime.

Valley County Sheriff Glen Meier said Thursday that 52-year-old Lloyd Christopher Danielson III of Tumwater, Wash., "had nothing to do with the shooting."

Danielson was arrested Saturday and charged with felony assault with a weapon. Meier says he was cleared after investigators searched his pickup. The sheriff declined to give details and said the investigation continues.

Thirty-nine-year-old Ray Dolin told authorities he was shot in the upper arm along U.S. Highway 2 near Glasgow. Danielson was arrested several hours later about 100 miles away.

In his first interview, Dolin told The Associated Press on Thursday that he didn't get a good look at the shooter.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)