Hungry Horse teen killed in crash after high-speed pursuit

A Hungry Horse teenager was killed and two others injured after a high-speed pursuit early Sunday morning.

Pierce Norman Beach, 15, was the driver of a 1994 Ford pickup pursued by Columbia Falls Police onto River Junction Road near U.S. 2.

Beach took off at 12:31 a.m. with police in pursuit, and crashed the truck off the road, down an embankment and into a tree while trying to negotiate a right-hand curve at high speeds near the corner of River Junction Road and Ninth Street West.

Beach braked going around the curve, but the high speed caused the truck to veer off the road and into the tree, where it ultimately came to rest upright, according to Montana Highway Patrol dispatch.

Beach, who was wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene. Alcohol and road conditions were not a factor.

The two passengers in the vehicle, an 18- and 16-year-old, were not wearing seatbelts. Both were transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

It is unknown why police began pursuing Beach. The crash remains under investigation by the Montana Highway Patrol.