The suspect in a fatal crash on Billings West End Friday night had allegedly threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend in his vehicle before fleeing police and causing a three-vehicle crash that killed two people and injured four others, according to charging documents filed Monday.
Ricky Ladell Buckhanan, 32, was charged with eight felonies: two counts of negligible homicide, four counts of criminal endangerment, one count of strangulation of partner or family member and one count of aggravated kidnapping. He was also charged with a misdemeanor for obstructing a police officer.
Buckhanan is scheduled for arraignment in Yellowstone County District Court Tuesday morning.
According to charging documents filed by Deputy County Attorney Lacey Fortin, the incident began just before 7 p.m. when dispatchers received an emergency that sounded like a being threatened by a man.
An officer arrived at the corner of Broadwater Avenue and 29th Street West to find a vehicle in a church parking lot, with a man inside shoving a woman outside the car. The man, later identified as Buckhanan, then took off, driving over landscaping and accelerating to get away, according to charging documents.
The officer called for assistance, and a second officer in the area saw the vehicle and tried to catch up. The officer saw the vehicle strike two other vehicles in the intersection of Broadway Avenue and 24th Street West, according to charging documents.
The woman, identified as Buckhanan's 45-year-old ex-girlfriend, told police she had asked him for a ride to do errands earlier in the day, and she became worried when he grew angry and began demanding money for the ride, according to charging documents. At one point, he allegedly threatened to shoot her, and the woman told police he owned a gun and had been violent before, according to charging documents.
The woman said she tried to jump out of the vehicle, but Buckhanan allegedly stepped on her leg to prevent her escape, according to charging documents. Once he pulled into the church parking lot, she was able to secretly call 911. At that point, she told police that he allegedly jumped in the back seat and allegedly began striking and strangling her, according to charging documents.
At the crash scene, officers found Buckhanan's blue Nissan Armada had struck a gray Buick Verano, which had then struck a Blue Ford Escape.
The two occupants of the Buick Verano, a 55-year-old and a 78-year-old, were both killed. The four occupants of the Ford Escape, a 28-year-old man, his 30-year-old wife, their 10-month-old child and his 64-year-old mother, were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, according to charging documents.
After the crash, Buckhanan fled the scene was caught on foot in the area of 19th Street West and Yellowstone Avenue.
As he was being taken to jail, police told Buckhanan two people had died in the crash, and he allegedly showed no remorse and stated it would "ruin his life," and he asked what the charges would be, according to charging documents.
