Helena police handle stolen vehicle chase, domestic disturbance and assaults Feb. 17–19

A stolen-vehicle report that originated on the 1600 block of 11th Avenue on Feb. 18 culminated in a high-speed pursuit stopped by a PIT maneuver on the Cedar Street interstate overpass, with a suspect identified only as "Seymour" taken into custody and the dog that had been left in the vehicle returned to its owner.

Court documents show the initial call came at about 2:15 p.m., when the vehicle owner reported leaving the car running because a dog was inside and that both the dog and vehicle were missing. About 15 minutes later, a separate call from the 2200 block of Airport Road reported a man trying to force entry into a locked business; an employee pushed the man away and he left the scene, according to the documents. Officers later located the vehicle near the 3600 block of U.S. Highway 12, near Broadwater Hotsprings; court filings record speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour as the driver fled into East Helena and back toward Helena before a Montana Highway Patrol trooper executed a PIT stop to end the pursuit.

Helena Police Department Lieutenant Adam Shanks said the subject "had to be stopped, and ultimately, with those many crimes happening in a short time, we knew that this was paramount that we had to get him taken into custody, for the safety of the community." HPD also emphasized that interagency support was critical in managing the high-stakes response.

Helena Police Department records for Wednesday, Feb. 18 show officers responded to 63 calls for service that day. Category totals listed in the department log include one hit-and-run, four non-injury accidents, three animal-control calls, one assault, two disorderly conduct calls, one domestic disturbance, one noise disturbance, one stolen-vehicle entry, eight suspicious circumstances/persons/vehicles, five thefts, two traffic stops, one trespassing, five welfare checks and one wildlife-animal call.

Time-stamped entries in the HPD log detail multiple thefts at the 3100 block of Queen Anns St. (8:20 a.m.), 400 block of N. Last Chance Gulch (9:45 a.m.), and 300 block of Euclid Ave. (12:14 p.m.); an assault near the 600 block of South California St. (10:33 a.m.); a family disturbance on the 1000 block of Hollins Ave. (1:59 p.m.); and a domestic disturbance near the 1500 block of Broadwater Circle (3:20 p.m.) that resulted in the arrest of a 19-year-old male on a warrant. The log also records a protection-order violation near the 2900 block of Overlook Blvd. at 3:50 p.m., a theft at the 2700 block of Prospect Ave. at 7:57 p.m., and a separate stolen-vehicle report near the 1200 block of Grant St. at 9:32 p.m.; the department note says that Grant St. vehicle was later located in Great Falls.

The department log's single stolen-vehicle total appears to conflict with the court-documented midafternoon pursuit and the late-night Grant Street report; formal reconciliation of incident timing, vehicle recoveries and any charges remains outstanding. Court documents referenced alleged offenses including kidnapping and vehicle theft, but formal charges and booking details have not been confirmed by Helena police or Montana Highway Patrol.