A Jan. 3 car chase that began at the north end of Whitefish Stage Road and ended in south Evergreen resulted in a bruised face for a local man after he and his wife restrained the driver until deputies could arrive.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office identified the driver of the suspect vehicle as 26-year-old Jordan Elliot of Kalispell.
According to Sheriff Chuck Curry, Elliot led law enforcement on a vehicle pursuit from Whitefish Stage to south Evergreen that ended when the suspect’s vehicle spun in the parking lot of the Evergreen Gas and Deli and was then hit by a sheriff’s vehicle, resulting in minor damage.
Elliot then allegedly fled on foot, and was pursued with an “extensive ground search.” A Cottonwood Drive resident, Michael Stephens, had been listening to the pursuit on his scanner and confronted Elliot, and attempted to physically detain the fleeing man.
Elliot was allegedly able to get Stephens’ flashlight and hit him several times on the head and face with it, resulting in bruises and lacerations. But Curry said Stephens’ wife, Amy Stephens, held Elliot at gunpoint with a hunting rifle until deputies arrived to detain him.
Elliot is being held at the Flathead County Detention Center and charges from the Flathead County Attorney’s Office are pending.