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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Owner chases down stolen pickup

Victim directs police to suspect by cell phone

Amy Beth Hanson Associated Press

HELENA – This cowboy wasn’t about to let a crook rustle him out of a good truck.

A Kalispell man chased down the thief who stole his truck and held him for police despite being stabbed twice in the arm. And he kept his cowboy hat on the whole time, said Kalispell Police Detective Kevin McCarvel.

The man started his Ford F-250 diesel pickup late Monday afternoon to warm it up before leaving work. But when he walked out of the office at about 5 p.m., he saw his truck being driven away, McCarvel said Wednesday.

The truck owner ran and jumped in the bed of the truck and used his cell phone to call police.

“The nice part about it was the victim in this was obviously giving directions the whole way,” McCarvel said, “so it made him pretty easy to find.”

The truck traveled six to eight blocks before the thief pulled over and took off running.

The 26-year-old truck owner quickly checked the cab, thought the thief had taken his wallet, grabbed a handgun and began chasing him on foot. He caught up to him after a couple of blocks.

“At one point he catches up with the suspect, tells him to stop and that police are on the way, that type of thing,” McCarvel said.

“The suspect confronts him and brandishes the knife and … threatens to stab him and proceeds to do so,” despite the fact that the truck owner had a gun, McCarvel said.

The suspect took off running again, and again the truck owner chased him down. The suspect discarded the knife and the truck owner, still on the phone, told dispatchers where that happened, too.

“Our victim is on his cell phone the entire time, even while he was getting stabbed, I guess,” McCarvel said.

The chase – from the time the truck owner called police, to when officers arrived – lasted about two minutes, McCarvel said.

The truck owner was asked what kept him from shooting the thief and he replied, “ ‘Well, he wasn’t stabbing me for real,’ ” McCarvel said.

Dennis Cartwright, 47, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a weapon and theft of a motor vehicle.