Montana: Deputy struck by SUV during attempted traffic stop

· AA Yellowstone County sheriff's deputy was struck by an SUV late Monday as he fired shots at the vehicle, after a police pursuit prompted by an attempted traffic stop.

The deputy, whose name hasn't been released, was treated at a Billings hospital for a head injury, Sheriff Mike Linder said in a news release.

The incident began just before midnight, Linder said, when the deputy attempted to make a traffic stop near Hilltop Road and Main Street. The vehicle involved was a dark-colored GMC Yukon driven by an adult male.

The deputy had observed signs that the driver might be impaired, and he also saw the Yukon go through a red stoplight, Linder said.

The deputy flipped on his emergency lights and attempted to pull over the SUV, but the driver refused to stop and the pursuit began. Linder, who didn't yet have the exact route, said at one point the Yukon drove onto Babcock Circle, a dead-end cul-de-sac, where deputies blocked the road out with their patrol cars.

The suspect vehicle, which contained the driver and three passengers, slowed to the point where deputies thought the suspects might flee the vehicle. At least one deputy exited his patrol car to begin a foot chase, when the SUV accelerated, drove up on a lawn, around another vehicle and at the deputy.

The deputy drew his pistol, and as the SUV hit him, the deputy fired what was thought to be two rounds at the vehicle. The deputy was knocked to the ground and sustained a head injury, Linder said. No one was injured by the shots fired.

Another deputy continued the pursuit through the Heights to the South Side of Billings, where the Yukon turned from Bruce Avenue to Hallowell Lane. There, the driver lost control and rolled the vehicle onto its top, hitting a local business.

The occupants in the vehicle were taken to Billings hospitals, but as of 5 a.m., the extent of their injuries were not not yet known.

County Attorney Scott Twito has been notified of the incident, Linder said, and will review the case for charges. Likely charges will include assault on a peace officer, criminal endangerment and various traffic offenses.

The Billings Police Department and Sheriff's Office are jointly investigating the incident. But since the shots were fired by a deputy, the BPD will take the lead in the shooting investigation, even though no one was injured by the gunshots.