Man pleads not guilty to chase, crash

A Billings man has challenged a felony charge accusing him of a chase that ended with a fleeing truck crashing into eight parked vehicles at an Evergreen dealership on Jan. 19.

Dale Frederick Siefke, 25, pleaded not guilty to felony criminal endangerment in Flathead District Court on Thursday.

Siefke is accused of fleeing in a stolen truck after a law officer tried to talk to him about the truck. Siefke allegedly hit another truck and spun it 180 degrees as he fled the Walmart parking lot at a high rate of speed.

Multiple agencies chased or looked for the truck until it crashed into eight parked vehicles at Glacier Auto Co. in Evergreen, causing an estimated $50,000 in damage.

According to court documents, Siefke after he was arrested allegedly admitted to putting people’s lives at risk.

A trial is set for June.

Siefke is also on felony probation for a forgery case that originated in November 2012 and a criminal possession of dangerous drug conviction from a July 2014 incident.

Both sentences were handed down in January 2015.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.