LIMA — Beaverhead County Sheriff David Wendt says that he suffered injuries while working to apprehend an impaired driver along a lonely stretch of highway just north of Lima.
"I just held onto the steering wheel and prayed. So here we go!" Sheriff Wendt recalled.
Sheriff Wendt responded to a 911 call from a truck driver who was following a dark-colored SUV with Washington State license plates that was driving erratically near the Montana/Idaho border around five in the morning on August 8.
"I caught up with the SUV at Dell. Got in behind it, turned my dash camera on. The car was all over the road. Initiated my warning lights and siren and the driver, a female from Washington, did not stop," says Sheriff Wendt.
A high-speed chase ensued.
"We were doing speeds from a hundred – well over a hundred — down to 60 back to 80," says Sheriff Wendt.
Watch Beaverhead County Sheriff recount his experience:
After about 11 miles, he became concerned when he spotted taillights up ahead.
"So I did pass her through the rumble strips and halfway into the median. Got back in front of her and then I slowed down. She did bump me a little bit, then she slowed way down, then I was like “Oh, good, we’re going to stop.” And then here she came full throttle and just rear-ended me," says Sheriff Wendt.
The impact deployed the SUV driver’s airbags, and the car chase ended.
Sheriff Wendt says the driver was combative when he tried to remove her from the SUV.
"I was trying to get her out of the truck... it was like I’m kind of, I’m in trouble. She was definitely altered state of mind," says Sheriff Wendt.
Once he removed the driver, the female truck driver who initially called 911 stopped and helped get the driver in handcuffs.
"Living down here in Lima, I have no backup. I'm by myself, so you gotta take what help you can get. Really thankful that this trucker stopped."
Sheriff Wendt says he has sustained injuries to his back from the impact of the SUV.
The female driver bonded out of jail and the Montana Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.
"This probably wasn’t text textbook way to get her to stop, but it worked. Everybody’s safe," Sheriff Wendt told MTN.
