Chase results in 10-year prison sentence

A 23-year-old Kalispell man was sentenced April 26 in Flathead District Court to 10 years in the Montana State Prison after being involved in a high-speed chase in October 2011.

Joshua Hermann, along with Joshua Rosalez, fled from police in a 2006 Honda Civic they stole from an auto sales lot and traveled at speeds up to and more than 90 miles per hour, also swerving into oncoming traffic.

The chase ended 15 miles inside Lincoln County when Hermann and Rosalez fled the vehicle on foot before being apprehended. A bag holding 137.5 grams of marijuana was found in the car, as well as a backpack containing methamphetamine.

Hermann was accused of stealing a 2010 Subary Legacy and a 2005 Chevrolet truck.

He pleaded guilty to felony theft on Jan. 19 in exchange for two additional felony theft charges and felony charges of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and criminal endangerment being dropped. In addition to prison time, Hermann was ordered to pay more than $14,500 in restitution.

Hermann’s prison sentence will run consecutive to his sentence in a Sanders County case.

Rosalez was sentenced in March to five years in jail with an additional five years suspended for his involvement in the chase as well as a felony robbery conviction connected to a May 2011 incident in which he attempted to collect a drug debt.