Sunday morning at approximately 5:15 am, Yellowstone County Deputies were involved in a pursuit east of Billings near the Shepherd area, according to a press release from the Sheriff's office.
This pursuit was initiated when a deputy attempted to stop a vehicle for suspicious activity in the area of Church Road.
The deputy had seen a vehicle in the same area early Saturday morning and when he went to check on it, the vehicle was already far enough away, he felt it would be futile to attempt to catch up with it at that time.
Sunday morning, the same deputy parked off the road in that area working on a report, when a vehicle with bright lights on pulled up behind him.
The deputy exited his patrol vehicle to investigate and when he shined his flashlight on the car, the vehicle sped backwards, turned around and fled the scene. The deputy felt that this was possibly the same vehicle he had seen the morning before. He decided to stop the vehicle to investigate. He attempted to stop the vehicle using his emergency lights and siren but the drive accelerated in an attempt to elude him.
During the pursuit, the driver of the suspect vehicle drove off the road into a field. As the deputy neared that point, the suspect vehicle came out of the field and drove towards the deputy, forcing him to take evasive action. By this time it was determined that the vehicle had fictitious license plates and matched the description of a Chevy Trail Blazer that was reported stolen out of Billings.
The pursuit continued to Shepherd Road, on to Chicago Road, and to the area of Five Corners, where another deputy was responding to assist. The suspect vehicle drove towards that deputy who also took evasive action to keep from being struck by the suspect vehicle.
During the pursuit, people began throwing large items out of the suspect vehicle. Two of those items recovered were described as a generator and a chop-saw. Drug paraphernalia was also recovered.
The pursuit continued on Hwy 312 to Pioneer Road, on to Dover Road and on to Mary Street, headed towards a populated area.
At that time, the deputy was given permission by the on duty commander to make contact with the suspect vehicle if necessary, to prevent the vehicle from continuing.
The deputy used his car to make contact with the suspect vehicle. The suspect vehicle left the roadway and rolled. One of the occupants of the vehicle fled on foot but was apprehended after a short foot pursuit.
All five adult occupants (3 males and 2 females) of the stolen vehicle were transported to local hospitals. At this time, there is no further information on their injuries.
No law enforcement officers were injured during this incident and the Montana Highway patrol was on scene to investigate the crash.
