Wild night ends in arrest

Man in custody for car theft, burglary, reckless eluding

The Daily Inter Lake

A Kalispell man was arrested early Tuesday morning after allegedly stealing and then crashing two cars.

The second crash allegedly occurred while the man was fleeing from police following the burglary of a Woodland Avenue home.

Zachary J. Bergman, 19, is being held in the Flathead County Detention Center on two counts of vehicle theft and one count of burglary pending charges from the Flathead County Attorney's Office.

Officers responding to a one-vehicle rollover crash in the 1200 block of Eighth Avenue East at 11:50 p.m. Monday discovered the car had been stolen from Kalispell's southwest side, according to the Kalispell Police Department.

The driver, described by a witness as a younger man wearing a camouflage coat and black stocking cap, had fled the scene on foot.

An hour later, at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, a burglary was reported at a Woodland Avenue home just six blocks from where the stolen vehicle had crashed.

The homeowner told police he discovered a young man wearing a camouflage coat and black stocking cap in his attached garage, and that cash had been stolen from a purse on the kitchen counter.

While searching the area for the alleged burglar, police noticed a suspicious vehicle and attempted to pull it over.

Investigators said the driver tried to speed away, initiating a pursuit through Kalispell. The driver lost control of the vehicle, later found to be stolen, and crashed into a fence in the 800 block of Eighth Avenue West.

The driver, wearing a camouflage coat and black stocking cap, fled the wrecked vehicle on foot. Officers from the Kalispell Police Department, Flathead County Sheriff's Office, and Montana Highway Patrol began searching the area on foot.

The driver - later identified as Bergman - was found hiding under a camp trailer only a few feet from where he was last seen by pursuing officers, investigators said.

Bergman also faces several misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts of failure to remain at the scene of an accident, and reckless eluding.

He has yet to be arraigned.