Man gets prison time for high-speed rampages

A Flathead Valley man who led authorities on two high-speed pursuits last year is headed to prison.

Nicholas Edward Jones, 34, was sentenced March 10 in Flathead County District Court to 25 years in prison with 15 years suspended.

As part of a plea deal, Jones admitted to charges of felony theft, felony criminal endangerment and felony possession of dangerous drugs. Felony charges of criminal mischief, assault on a peace officer and burglary were dismissed.

The case and sentencing were in front of Judge Robert Allison.

Jones was arrested on Aug. 11, 2021 after a police chase and brief standoff on Montana 206 near Columbia Falls.

According to court documents, officers found Jones passed out behind the wheel of a stolen pickup parked at a storage unit business. Officers placed spike strips behind the pickup tires and parked patrol vehicles in front and behind the truck.

When Jones awoke, he rammed the pickup into one of the patrol cars, nearly hitting an officer, then sped away. The rampage continued with Jones smashing through a chain-link fence and security gate, and speeding down Montana 206.

Deputies used a pit maneuver on the truck and it crashed near the Bad Rock Fire Department station. Jones refused deputies' orders to get out of the vehicle and a SWAT team and police dog were used during his arrest.

Jones had eluded law enforcement during a separate chase in July of 2021. In that incident, documents state that officers attempted to stop his vehicle in Kalispell when he was identified as suspect in a Columbia Falls burglary.

He sped away, blowing through multiple stop signs, then drove off an embankment on Seventh Street East and Woodland Avenue, wrecking the car.

Jones took off on foot and later stole a Ford F150 from a Kalispell home, which he used in the August chase that ended in his arrest.

Officers searched the wrecked car following the July pursuit and allegedly found fentanyl pills, a substance believed to be meth and other drug paraphernalia, along with a pellet gun and a loaded rifle cartridge.