Police pursuit leads to chase, injuries in LaMoure County

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A suspect was shot with a Taser Wednesday after a reckless driving complaint led to a four-vehicle chase and ended with two totaled vehicles and injuries in LaMoure County.

The incident started at 7:07 a.m. Wednesday, when Ian Mattice, chief of the LaMoure Police Department, received a call about a person driving recklessly through town, speeding and leaving rubber marks on the roads.

“I had three reports by the time I actually found the vehicle. I activated my lights and attempted to pull the vehicle over,” Mattice said.

According to Mattice, the suspect fled instead, with the police chief chasing after the Nissan Pathfinder. Eventually, the North Dakota Highway Patrol and LaMoure County Sheriff’s Office got involved.

The sheriff’s office blocked off a road with one of its cars.

Rather than driving around the roadblock or stopping, according to Mattice, the driver of the Nissan drove into it, striking the sheriff’s office’s vehicle with a deputy inside of it and totaling the car.

The deputy was transported to Jamestown Regional Medical Center for injuries.

After the Nissan ran into the deputy’s car it stopped, and Mattice jumped out of his vehicle and tried to pull the driver of the Nissan out of it.

Mattice said the driver hit the accelerator while the car was in reverse, dragging him through the ditch, where he fell and moved out of the way of the Pathfinder as its driver attempted to escape.

The chase then started up again.

Later, the Pathfinder struck a North Dakota Highway Patrol vehicle, Mattice said, but eventually it got hung up on a fence.

There Mattice opened the vehicle’s door again and told the suspect to get out of the vehicle, but instead, the suspect allegedly hit reverse, struck the police chief with the door and then got out of the vehicle and ran.

That’s when Mattice used a Taser on the suspect.

Joshua McCleary, 30, who is from the Dickey, N.D., area, is alleged to have been the driver of the Nissan Pathfinder. Mattice said alcohol and drugs were suspected factors in the incident.

Mattice said McCleary has a prior police record. The incident is still under investigation, and officials are still determining exactly what to charge him with.

“My knee was cut open a little bit, but I’m fine, and the sheriff’s deputy was checked out — he’s back to work now,” Mattice said Thursday, later adding, “No one got seriously hurt, and I’m glad that the guy is behind bars.”

Sun reporter Kari Lucin can be reached at 701-952-8453

or by email at klucin@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, crime