BILLINGS — On Monday night, a chase conducted by the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office turned fatal, when the suspect fleeing the deputies ran through a stop sign, striking and killing a 28-year-old man on a motorcycle.
It's a dangerous situation that law enforcement tries to prevent, although each agency in the area has its own protocols for determining when to pursue.
"It's the loss of a civilian or the complete innocent life," said Billings Police Lt. Matt Lennick Tuesday afternoon. "That's exactly what we're trying to avoid."
Lennick said that BPD typically is cautious when it pertains to chasing events and that even though it can be difficult, there's a lot of factors that weigh into the decision to call off a pursuit.
"It's never easy to not chase somebody that you want to apprehend," Lennick said. "It comes down to the decision of, is the risk of trying to apprehend this individual worth the risk to the officers, to the community and to the suspects themselves."
Billings police were only involved in the Monday night incident after the crash. According to a press release from Sheriff Mike Linder, the incident began when the deputies tried to pull over the suspect, Jimmy Joe Flanagan, after discovering he had a stolen skidsteer on a trailer hitched to his truck while driving on I-90.
Flanagan refused to pull over, taking the Lockwood Road exit and driving recklessly near the Metra — even tipping and losing the trailer and skidsteer in the process.
Flanagan continued to speed away from authorities, proceeding down the wrong way down several one-way streets before turning onto North 20th Street, blowing through a stop sign, and hitting and killing the victim on the motorcycle.
On Tuesday, MTN reached out to Linder to discuss his agency's pursuit protocols, but he declined an interview, sending out a press release of the incident instead.
For Billings police, the policy used is called restrictive pursuit, Lennick said.
"It's not that we don't (pursue), because there are times when it's appropriate or necessary," Lennick said. "We use a compelling need."
That compelling need can come in many different factors, including past criminal history, the time of day, the speed or location of the chase, and more. All focused on protecting the community as best as possible.
On Saturday, Billings police were involved in a different chase, and officers decided that suspect Robert Lee Canulli was worth the pursuit. Canulli was arrested in a cornfield on the west end of town at around 6 a.m. and is facing 10 felony counts.
"That had been a continuing issue that didn't get better," Lennick said. "All of the things in that scenario pointed to there was an absolute necessity that we took that individual into custody."
Oftentimes, that isn't the case, and the Billings police are forced to walk away from chasing down their suspects. It's a difficult decision, but one that Lennick is confident in — especially after the incident on Monday.
"It's never an easy pill to swallow, but I think this kind of thing kind of enforces the decisions we've made in place," Lennick said.
