High-speed pursuit ends with Taser

A 26-year-old Whitefish man was

arrested March 25 following a high-speed pursuit from north of

Somers to Lawrence Park, in Kalispell.

Abram Schilling was taken to Flathead

County Detention Center pending filing of felony charges, according

to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.

The chase began north of Somers on U.S.

93 after Schilling’s full-size Chevrolet pickup truck was stopped

in connection with an investigation by the Montana Department of

Criminal Investigations and the Northwest Drug Task Force.

When deputies approached the vehicle,

the driver sped away and deputies gave chase, reaching speeds of

more than 100 mph before entering the south end of Kalispell. Spike

strips were laid across the road near the Kalispell city limits,

and both of the truck’s front tires were deflated.

Kalispell police and Montana Highway

Patrol troopers continued to follow the truck through Kalispell,

which was unable to turn because of the deflated tires, to the

locked gates at the entrance to Lawrence Park.

The truck went over an embankment, and

the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle fled on foot. When

deputies caught up to him, he allegedly refused to cooperate, and

deputies used a Taser on him.

Deputies were awaiting a search warrant

to search the pickup truck. Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry

said drugs might be found in the truck.

Schilling was initially held in the

detention center for violating his probation conditions. He

received a suspended sentence after being convicted of felony

criminal endangerment in Lewis and Clark County on May 19,

2010.