Baker Charged For High Speed Chase In July
Five charges have been filed in district court against Jesse Hank Baker III regarding a high speed motorcycle chase in Roosevelt County in July.
Charges include the felony offense of criminal endangerment and the misdemeanor charges of fleeing from or eluding a peace officer, reckless driving, driving without a valid license and driving under the influence of intoxicants, first offense. If convicted of the felony charge, he could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison and fined up to $50,000.
The charging documents were filed Nov. 17. Baker is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Dec. 16.
According to court documents, law enforcement allegedly observed Baker on a motorcycle on July 17, heading eastbound on U.S. Highway 2 east of Poplar. He allegedly passed three vehicles and exceeded 85 miles per hour.
After the officer activated his emergency lights, Baker allegedly accelerated to 95 mph and passed four additional vehicles before reaching Brockton. He continued going that speed through Brockton.
A Roosevelt County deputy parked a patrol vehicle diagonally across Highway 2 in an attempt to slow down the suspect. Baker avoided the patrol vehicle and barely slowed down.
At approximately mile marker 643, Baker slowed down suddenly and made an abrupt south turn into a pasture. Officers attempted to pursue him in the pasture, but he was able to outmaneuver the officer’s vehicle.
The motorcycle returned to the highway and headed toward Culbertson in excess of 100 mph. East of Culbertson, the motorcycle turned left into a private rural residence. The motorcycle then crashed. After Baker was patted down to search for weapons, law enforcement called an ambulance.
A blood sample was taken. Authorities received test results back from the Montana Department of Justice Forensic Science Division Nov. 9. Results were that Baker’s blood content contained .02 mg/L of amphetamine, .25 mg/L of meth, 1.3 ng/mL of THC and 40 ng/mL of THCCOOH.
