Deputies spike fleeing pickup
<p>Officers with the Glacier County Sheriff's Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Montana Highway Patrol and Flathead County Sheriff's Office block U.S. 2 outside West Glacier after the conclusion of a high-speed chase that started in Glacier County on Wednesday. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>A truck involved in a high-speed chase Wednesday afternoon is loaded onto a wrecker near West Glacier on U.S. 2. The pursuit began in Glacier County and ended when Flathead County sheriff's deputies deployed spike strips, giving the truck three flat tires. One man was arrested and transported back to Glacier County. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
A suspect fleeing Glacier County law enforcement was apprehended in Flathead County early Wednesday afternoon following a high-speed chase that ended when his pickup truck hit spike strips on U.S. 2.
The Glacier County Sheriff’s Office said John Jack Alexander Saxten IV was taken into custody without incident roughly two miles east of West Glacier, nearly 70 miles from where the pursuit began.
The incident began when a motorist reported that a man stopped in the middle of the road in Glacier County, exited his vehicle and brandished a shotgun before fleeing.
Glacier County deputies spotted the man in Browning a short time after the initial call and tried to stop him.
The man then fled, leading to the long highway pursuit by deputies, Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services and the Montana Highway Patrol. Personnel from the three agencies continued chasing the man as he crossed Marias Pass and entered Flathead County.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office was contacted to intercept him farther down the highway.
Flathead County deputies were able to deploy spike strips at mile marker 156 east of West Glacier.
Highway traffic was blocked at West Glacier to keep the road clear for the spike-strip operation, which was a success.
Three of the four tires on the pickup truck were blown, ending the chase, which at one point involved at least five Bureau of Indian Affairs vehicles as well as law enforcement vehicles from two counties along with Montana Highway Patrol vehicles.
Saxten was arrested on several preliminary felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the chase. He is now being held in the Glacier County Detention Center.