Teen admits to stealing truck, leading police on chase

A Kalispell man admitted Thursday to stealing a railroad maintenance truck and leading police on a high-speed chase in the Coram area in December.

Tyler Rodney Volkmann, 19, pleaded guilty to felony theft and criminal endangerment as part of a plea agreement in which a third felony count of assault on a peace officer was dropped.

On the stand Volkmann admitted to stealing at 2006 Sterling Acterra BNSF railroad truck from Northwest Truck Repair on Dec. 14.

According to court documents, authorities used a GPS tracking unit to locate the truck at Gadys’s Glenn and U.S. 2, where a deputy tried to stop the vehicle, which was stuck on a hill. Volkmann backed toward and nearly struck an officer in an effort to get back on U.S. 2, and traveled toward Coram. Volkmann turned down a dead-end, snow-packed residential road called Seville Lane at speeds of 45 mph, where he almost hit an oncoming Subaru.

The truck spun out near the top of a hill, at which time Volkmann again put his vehicle in reverse and accelerated toward deputies following him. One of the deputies had to move out of the way to avoid getting hit. The other deputy was also nearly hit as he tried to get out of his patrol vehicle.

One of the deputies fired shots at the vehicle’s tires as it came toward him.

Volkmann then veered toward a deputy that was standing off the roadway, near a set of spike strips that had been set up to disable the vehicle. The deputy had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by the truck, which then continued on until it hit a tree.

Volkmann then bailed out of the vehicle and was found hiding beneath a tree by responding officers.

Volkmann’s attorney estimates that the damage he caused is in the tens of thousands of dollars.

He will be on the hook for restitution at a sentencing hearing on Feb. 23.

Volkmann will also be sentenced for felony theft. He pleaded guilty Thursday to that charge, in which he was accused of stealing someone’s pickup truck in June 2016. Volkmann admitted after pleading guilty that he knew the truck he had been driving was stolen, though he did not admit to taking it himself.

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