02/25/14 Laurel, MT – Wanted Suspects – One Attempts To Steal Police Car – One Car-Jacks a Pick Up – Yellowstone Co. Deputy Shot Suspect After 80 MPH Pursuit

February 25, 2014

billingsgazette.com

A Yellowstone County sheriff’s deputy shot one man and another was arrested after attempting to steal a police car on Monday near Laurel.

The Yellowstone County Sheriff’s office confirmed that Austin Allery, 18, and Hayden Lowry, 19, suspects in the attempted theft of a vehicle followed by a chase on Saturday night in Laurel, were arrested on Monday afternoon.

Both men are in custody at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility, according to the sheriff’s office.

Laurel police received a call at 12:42 p.m. from a person who saw two men walking that matched the description of those involved in a pursuit and crash on Saturday night.

Sheriff’s Lt. Kent O’Donnell said that Laurel police approached the two men shortly before 1 p.m. near the Wal-Mart parking lot.

The two gave police false information before fleeing, O’Donnell said.

One suspect got into a police car in an attempt to flee, according to a press release from the Laurel Police Department.

The pursuing officer got in the car, as the suspect put the car in drive. The officer and the suspect struggled for control of the car.

The officer got the car into park, subdued the suspect and handcuffed him, according to the LPD release.

The second suspect ran into Wal-Mart and the pursuing officer lost sight of him. After a brief search, it was determined the man had run to the parking lot of a nearby Pizza Hut.

The suspect showed a handgun and stole a Ford pickup from its owner in the Pizza Hut parking lot.

The suspect then attempted to leave the parking lot.

A citizen trying to assist officers rammed the pickup with another car. The suspect continued to flee and shots were fired, according to the LPD release.

It was unclear if gunfire was exchanged, but a Yellowstone County Sheriff’s deputy shot the suspect as he fled, O’Donnell said.

Authorities pursued the suspect on roads near Laurel at speeds in excess of 80 mph. They placed spike strips in two places on Laurel Airport Road, O’Donnell said.

The pickup ran over both sets of strips, but continued driving on flat tires for several miles before the driver spun out into a ditch on Old Highway 10 West, three miles outside of Park City.

The suspect was arrested and transported to a local hospital by ambulance for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The snow near the driver’s side of the pickup was spattered with blood.

Sheriff Mike Linder said that the deputy, whose name hasn’t been released but was identified as a man, has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in such incidents, pending review of the incident.

Linder said that no deputies were injured.

“They’re safe and the bad guys are in custody,” he said. “That’s how it should go.”

He referred further questions to the Laurel Police Department.

Over the weekend, Laurel police were looking for Allery and Lowry after the attempted theft of a vehicle in Laurel, followed by a chase that ended when the pickup rolled down an embankment and the two men inside ran away.

The truck turned out to have been stolen from Miles City, according to a Laurel Police Department news release.