High Speed Chase Nets Alleged Missoula Car Thief in Lake County
29 year-old Matthew Van Vallin is in the Missoula County Jail after being apprehended in an allegedly stolen vehicle by authorities in Lake County.
Lake County Sheriff Don Bell said the car chase started at about midnight Monday morning.
“The pursuit started at about 11:35 p.m. on Sunday when a Lake County Deputy noticed a vehicle at about mile marker 46 on US 93 that fit the description of a stolen vehicle out of Missoula,” he said. “The Deputy verified the plate and the vehicle came back as stolen, so the deputy activated his Emergency lights and siren and the stolen vehicle traveled at a high rate of speed south bound out of Ronan attempting to elude the deputy. Matthew Van Vallin was arrested after a pursuit started in Ronan Mt near mile marker 46 ending at the Grey Wolf Casino about mile marker 10 where Missoula County Sheriff Deputies placed stop sticks on the highway and flattened the tires on the stolen vehicle,”
Van Vallin was placed in the Missoula County Jail and was photographed wearing a vest that protects the suspect from harming himself.
Van Vallin is in jail on just over $200,000 bond, and will appear in Missoula Justice Court on Tuesday.