A Browning man is being held in the Bureau of Indian Affairs detention center after a law enforcement pursuit in a reportedly stolen vehicle from Columbia Falls on U.S. Highway 2 to U.S. Highway 89 at about 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 23, according to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.
Glacier County officers arrested Theo Old Chief, 31, on a gravel road east of Browning.
The vehicle had been reported stolen from Town Pump on Ninth Street in Columbia Falls, which Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies located heading eastbound on Highway 2 in Columbia Heights. After failed attempts to stop the vehicle in Hungry Horse, deputies pursued the vehicle east on Highway 2 but eventually discontinued due to traffic congestion and the suspect’s unsafe driving behavior.
Two Bear Air Rescue located the vehicle near Marias Pass heading toward East Glacier.
Glacier County authorities deployed spike strips east of Marias Pass, causing at least one tire to deflate. The suspect continued traveling toward Browning before stopping on a gravel road east of Browning on Highway 89.
Old Chief is awaiting charges from the Flathead County Attorney’s Office.
The Columbia Falls Police Department, Montana Highway Patrol and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the stolen vehicle and pursuit.