Montana man charged in North Dakota multi-county chase with stolen car

A Butte, Mont., man is in custody in Mountrail County on charges he led several agencies on a high-speed chase through multiple counties in a stolen car on Wednesday, at times driving near pedestrians at high rates of speed.

Prosecutors have charged 41-year-old Timothy Foster with possession of a stolen vehicle, fleeing from police, and reckless endangerment with extreme indifference.

According to the criminal affidavit, the owner of an SUV reported stolen out of Minot informed police an app used to track the vehicle’s whereabouts indicated it was in Stanley.

Stanley Police and Mountrail County Deputies located the vehicle and pursued, at which point the driver, later identified as Foster, began to flee. A Stanley Police Officer performed a rolling roadblock to try to prevent the driver from heading near pedestrians on the city’s main drag.

Investigators say Foster struck and damaged the officer’s squad car and continued to flee, disregarding school crossings as well as parks with many people.

Foster eventually fled west on Highway 2 heading towards Tioga, reaching speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.

At one point, at least eight different law enforcement agencies joined in pursuing him, and tried to deploy spike strips multiple times.

Investigators say Foster eventually ran out of gas, and surrendered to police without incident.

Responding agencies included the Stanley and Tioga Police Departments, the Mountrail, Burke, and Divide County Sheriff’s Departments, the North Dakota Highway Patrol, North Dakota Game and Fish, and Border Patrol.

Foster made his initial court appearance on the charges Friday and remains in custody in the Mountrail County Correctional Center on a $10,000 bond.

He’ll be arraigned Sept. 12.

Foster pleaded guilty in an unrelated case two months ago to his role in breaking in to a car, and was ordered to time served and two years of supervised probation, according to records. A co-defendant in that case is still charged.