Men Arrested After Chase With Officers

Two Montana men were arrested early Thursday after leading police on a high-speed chase across two counties, according to a sheriff’s report.

Shoshone County Sheriff’s deputies were called after a truck drove away from a Wallace gas station without paying for gas.

Officers found the truck at about 3:50 a.m. heading west on Interstate 90 near Elizabeth Park. The truck driver refused to stop and sped away, according to the report.

Sheriff’s deputies along with officers from the Wallace and Osburn police departments followed the truck as it raced west at speeds exceeding 100 mph, according to the report.

Officers followed the truck over the Fourth of July Pass and into Kootenai County. The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department placed a strip of spikes across the interstate just east of Coeur d’Alene.

The spikes punctured and flattened the truck’s tires. The driver and the passenger then fled into a heavily treed and marshy area, according to the report.

A Kootenai deputy used his police dog to help find one suspect - a 17-year-old boy. Sean Rhodes, 18 of Kalispell, was later found walking along the freeway and arrested near Pinehurst.

The truck he was driving had been reported stolen out of Montana, according to the report.

Rhodes was booked into the Shoshone County Jail on charges of possession of stolen property, eluding a police officer, petty theft and reckless driving. The juvenile was taken to the Kootenai County Juvenile Detention Center.