Man arrested after ramming cars in pursuit

A man led Kalispell police on a chase throughout the city Friday evening, ramming and disabling two cruisers in the process before being arrested.

James Corval Sattler is now incarcerated in the Flathead County Detention Center, where he is being held on preliminary charges of criminal endangerment and assault on a peace officer.

According to Officer Karen Webster, the incident began as a report of a reckless driver from a Montana Highway Patrol trooper who saw the gold Chevrolet Silverado northbound on Airport Road at about 5:30 p.m. before losing sight of it.

Webster said a Kalispell officer then spotted the vehicle near Begg Park Drive, speeding and running a stop sign. The officer tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver would not stop or pull over, driving into the South Meadows area.

“He wasn’t familiar with the area, possibly, because he drove into a cul de sac and stopped,” Webster said. “He then refused commands from the officer and backed into two parked vehicles before he pushed one of our vehicles, colliding with it.”

A police dispatch log indicates Sattler then exited out of the neighborhood before taking out a fence at Seventh Avenue West and Sunnyside Drive.

The pursuit eventually ended at the corner of Woodland Avenue and 10th Street East, where he rammed more cars before being taken into custody. The details of his apprehension are not clear, but Webster said she did not believe he stopped on his own.

The dispatch log states that Sattler was transported to the hospital for treatment of facial lacerations, also noting that he was incoherent. He later refused to cooperate with medical personnel.

A Kalispell officer suffered a cut hand in the incident, and a pair of Kalispell police cruisers had to be towed for repairs.

The Montana Highway Patrol is investigating all of the collisions.