Police end car chase in Whitefish with spike strips

Spike strips and a pit maneuver finally ended a high speed chase Saturday that started south of Kalispell and ended in Whitefish.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Thomas Manz said the driver, whose name has not yet been released, has since been arrested and that Flathead County Sheriff’s Office will pursue charges.

Montana Highway Patrol was assisting the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office in pulling the man over when he failed to stop. The man was being pulled over in connection with an alleged altercation that occurred at Del’s Bar in Somers.

Instead of pulling over, the man, who was driving a blue Nissan Versa, drove through several red lights and began driving recklessly, speeding up to about 80 mph, according to Manz.

Whitefish Police Department laid spike strips just south of Montana 40 on U.S. 93 followed by a pit maneuver by sheriff’s deputies to stop the driver.

“A pit maneuver is where they use their vehicle to basically hit the rear end of the vehicle by the rear tire, put a spin in it, to stop the vehicle,” Manz said. “And they did it for safety reasons because we didn’t want the vehicle to go into Whitefish.”

The eluding vehicle did continue for half a mile before coming to a stop.