Jamestown man faces charges after motorcycle chase reaches 115 mph
Jamestown police say a motorcycle stop turned into a high-speed chase that hit 115 mph before ending in a crash near Windsor.
A Jamestown motorcycle pursuit that reached 115 mph ended in a crash north of Interstate 94 and left a 30-year-old Jamestown man facing charges that now include fleeing, DUI, driving under suspension and carrying a concealed weapon.
Police say a Jamestown officer tried to stop a blue 2005 Harley Davidson on 1st Ave. S. at about 4:55 p.m. Thursday, May 14, but the rider fled westbound on Business Loop West and then onto westbound Interstate 94. Chief Scott Edinger said the chase hit 97 mph on city streets before climbing to 115 mph on the interstate.
The rider was identified as Auston James Peterson, 30, of Jamestown. According to police and later reporting, he exited I-94 near Windsor and crashed north of the interstate after failing to negotiate a curve on a gravel road. Peterson was taken to Jamestown Regional Medical Center and later booked into the Stutsman County Correctional Center.
The case quickly drew in multiple law-enforcement agencies. The Jamestown Police Department was assisted by the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office, the Stutsman County Drug Task Force and the North Dakota Highway Patrol, underscoring how a traffic stop in the city turned into a wider public-safety response. Police said additional charges were possible as the investigation continued.
The pursuit also highlighted the risks Jamestown drivers face when a chase spills onto familiar routes like Business Loop West and I-94. Those roads carry local traffic, commuters and travelers moving through Stutsman County, where the sheriff’s office handles about 7,000 calls for service each year across 2,298 square miles.
The county’s jail system was part of that response. The Stutsman County Correctional Center, located in the Law Enforcement Center in Jamestown, opened in 1986 and now holds up to 92 inmates after later additions and double-bunking. It is inspected annually by the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
For Jamestown residents, the episode was a blunt reminder of how fast a routine stop can escalate into a danger for other drivers, officers and the person running from police. In a city where Interstate 94 and U.S. Highway 281 make Jamestown a regional crossroads, the public-safety stakes of a chase can extend well beyond the original traffic stop.
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