Teen sues Columbia Falls police over fatal pursuit

KALISPELL, Mont. – A teen seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash that killed the driver after he sped away from police in northwestern Montana is seeking $3 million in damages.

The Daily Inter Lake reported that Joshua Sauls filed the suit last week against the Columbia Falls Department. His attorney says the officer who initiated the traffic stop at the beginning of the chase didn’t have probable cause to stop the vehicle.

Sauls, who was 16 at the time, had been riding in a pickup truck driven by 15-year-old Pierce Norman Beach when the vehicle went off the road and hit a tree in June 2015. Beach died, and both Sauls and another passenger were injured.

Police had said the officer first tried to stop the vehicle after noticing the taillight was out. They learned during the subsequent chase that the pickup had been reported stolen.