One Montana fugitive committed suicide, while another was purposely hit by a patrol car when a Butte robbery came to its tragic conclusion in Lincoln county, Oregon. Now, Oregon officials are investigating exactly what happened to fugitive Dale Edward Wallace.

"There's an ongoing investigation that involves multiple agencies that form the Lincoln County major crimes team," said Oregon State Police Public Information Officer Gregg Hastings. "That is being coordinated with the Lincoln County DA's office. They're looking into the events surrounding the January 3 incident in which a 30-year old Montana man named Dale Edward Wallace was seriously injured when he was struck by an OSP marked patrol unit."

Though Hastings said there wasn't a particular time line, a press release by Oregon Police sent out on January 8 asks for "any witnesses to the events that occurred on January 3rd to please contact Newport Police Department's recorded tip line at (541) 574-5455 and leave a message with contact information." The same press release also says investigators will research those witness testimonies in the "next several days."

Wallace was wanted for tying up a 70-plus year-old shop keeper at a Cards and Coins store in Butte and stealing money and weapons along with his accomplice 30-year-old  Sarah Jo Johnson. Johnson reportedly committed suicide about five hours after Wallace was struck by police.

"Mr. Wallace fled a vehicle on foot, allegedly pointed a firearm at officers at which time the trooper who was arriving in the area struck Mr. Wallace with his patrol car," said Hastings, describing the timeline of events. "Mr. Wallace was transported to a hospital in the Portland area, he was being treated for serious injuries. Then on January 7, the hospital was able to release him following his treatment and he was immediately taken into custody by Oregon State Police as a fugitive from justice on a warrant out of Montana."

After release from the Oregon Health & Science University, Wallace was placed in the Multnomah County Justice Center as a Fugitive from Justice.

Hastings could not say whether the vehicle hit Wallace from the back or the front for medical privacy reasons.

 

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