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Vehicle chase ends in suicide |
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Wednesday, 17 September 2008 |
By Buck Traxler, I-O Editor
What began as a simple routine traffic stop ended up being a vehicle chase with law enforcement officers and a self inflicted gunshot resulting in a suicide death.
At approximately 5 p.m. on Wednesday the city police office received a report of a rusty tan pickup driving around with an individual drinking.
At about 7:20 p.m., an officer stopped the pickup truck of 23-year-old Josh Hagen of Conrad. His truck had no tags or a license plate.
Chief of Police Gary Dent told the I-O that as the officer was walking up to the truck, Hagen pointed a rifle directly at him. The officer backed up and called for back up assistance.
At this time, Hagen took off and drove around the east side of town, eventually making his way to the Sollid Road at a high rate of speed.
The chase slowed down as vehicles went from the highway to gravel roads. There were two city police officers, two county deputies and a MHP officer involved in the chase.
Hagen eventually pulled off on a farm road. He may have seen a MHP officer, who was ahead of him, putting down tire strips on the road.
Contact with him was attempted through a bullhorn with no response. Dent said, “We didn’t want this to get into a darkness situation,” which was fast approaching.
Officers approached the pickup truck with caution and found Hagen had shot himself with a gunshot to the head.
Pondera County Sheriff Tom Kuka said, “At no time did any officer fire a shot.”
Because law enforcement officers were involved, the state CID (Criminal Investigation Division) has been called in as independent third party investigators. There are three CID officers, one from Great Falls, one from Helena and another from Kalispell, said Chief Dent.
At no time were the Great Falls SWAT team called to assist.
Kuka noted that the Toole County coroner would be asked to handle an inquest to determine the manner of death.
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