Spike strips stop long highway chase
<p><strong>ALERT personnel</strong> load a woman into the medical helicopter on U.S. 2 at mile marker 172 after she crashed a vehicle she allegedly stole on Holt Stage Road before leading law officers on a long high-speed chase. The chase ended about 40 miles northeast of Columbia Falls along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. (Becca Parsons/Hungry Horse News)</p>
A high-speed chase that began in the east side of the Flathead Valley ended on U.S. 2 near Nyack when the driver careened into the woods.
The woman, who apparently was a transient, allegedly stole the Jeep sport utility vehicle Thursday morning on Holt Stage Road near Kalispell.
A Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks game warden spotted the stolen vehicle and started the pursuit at Holt Stage Road and Montana 35, according to Flathead County Undersheriff Dave Leib.
The chase continued on Montana 35 east and then on Montana 206 heading north. Law enforcement set up a spike strip at the South Fork Flathead River Bridge on U.S. 2. The driver evaded this roadblock in Hungry Horse.
Then Forest Service personnel joined the pursuit.
Leib said that it was a “more effective pursuit” than others because law officers were spread out. Four Flathead County deputies were stationed in Essex for the Sheep Fire. They were able to set up another set of spike strips at mile marker 171 in a “safe location” where traffic could be blocked in both directions.
The driver was unable to avoid this roadblock, which shredded three of the vehicle’s tires. The woman then continued on three rims, leaving tire fragments on the road. Law officers continued the chase at 55 miles per hour. They “nudged the rear end,” Leib said. This caused a loss of control and the vehicle left the pavement and went into the trees on the north side of the road.
The woman has not been identified and the extent of her injuries is unknown. She was transported to the hospital by the ALERT helicopter from Kalispell.
The initial officer in pursuit said she was a transient, according to Leib.
“We typically consider the traffic conditions before starting a pursuit,” Leib said. “She didn’t get off on city streets … it didn’t seem that she was unduly endangering others.”