Man facing felony after leading police chase

A man who allegedly led a police chase in a stolen car in Kalispell earlier this month is facing felony charges.

Paul Steven Bixby, 25, was booked into the Flathead County jail on May 22 and is charged with felony criminal endangerment, and misdemeanors of fleeing a peace officer and driving suspended.

According to Flathead District Court documents, on May 21 at about 11 p.m. a law enforcement officer observed a vehicle reported as stolen being driven by Bixby, along with a female passenger, at the intersection of West Idaho and Meridian.

The officer attempted to pull over Bixby, but he allegedly kept traveling westbound on Idaho and turned northbound on the U.S. 93 bypass.

A Montana Highway Patrol trooper used a spike strip, which blew Bixby’s front left tire, while the officer used a pursuit technique that caused Bixby to spin out before the Reserve intersection.

The vehicle left the roadway and came to a stop in a roadside ditch.

Bixby was arrested and charge with endangering the life his passenger. He faces 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

According to the Billings Gazette, Bixby was accused of stabbing another man at a coffee shop in downtown Billings following an altercation in December 2017. The newspaper reports that a deadlocked jury led to a mistrial this past January in Yellowstone County District Court. Bixby’s attorney argued that he was defending himself.