Scott Edward Schoenen has been charged with four felony counts of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute, two felony counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, and a misdemeanor county of fleeing from or eluding a peace officer from an early morning July 31 incident.

Around midnight on July 31, a member of the Russell Country Drug Task Force notified a Great Falls Police Department detective that Schoenen was suspected of bringing drugs to Great Falls after a trip to Missoula.

Sgt. Kevin Supalla, of the drug task force, advised that a tracker had been placed on Schoenen’s truck with a warrant and the truck was nearly back to Great Falls.

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Shoenen took Exit 276 to 10th Avenue South around 12:20 a.m. with Supalla following in an unmarked vehicle, according to court documents.

Schoenen gave “an inadequate signal,” before changing lanes and passed a GFPD detective westbound.  The detective turned around to follow Schoenen’s truck onto Alder Drive as it rounded the ramp and went south.

The detective noticed Schoenen was driving in the middle of the roadway, initially suspecting he was being cautious in a dark neighborhood, but as they rounded the corner and continued southbound on the straightaway, Schoenen remained in the middle of the roadway, so the detective elected to conduct a traffic stop, but before he could do so, Schoenen pulled over to the right side of the road, according to court documents.

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Since the detective knew Schoenen didn’t live in the area and he was believed to be transporting drugs, he activated his overhead lights and conducted a traffic stop in the 1700 block of Alder Drive, where the other officer in the car exited the patrol vehicle to approach, when Schoenen accelerated in reverse, nearly striking their vehicle, according to court documents.

At that point, Schoenen accelerated away from the officers heading southbound, showing on the GPS tracker that he was going 63 in a 25 miles per hour residential neighborhood.

All recorded speeds included in the police report and charging documents were captured using the GPS tracker that had previously been placed on Schoenen’s truck with a warrant, according to court documents.

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The officers activated their siren and attempted to stop Schoenen again, but he did not comply and continued to flee at high speed in the residential neighborhood, so the officers did not pursue since they had the GPS tracker.

Schoenen continued to Park Garden Road, driving 48 in a 25 miles per hour neighborhood then turned south onto Fox Farm Road, travelling 64 miles per hour around the 2500 block, then 80 in a 45 miles per hour zone on the 4400 block of Fox Farm, according to court documents.

“Units began to flood the area in case Schoenen attempted to flee on foot from the vehicle, a common practice after someone flees,” according to court documents.

Schoenen continued south on Fox Farm, west onto Dick Road, then north on Flood Road, traveling back toward Great Falls. As he approached the intersection with Park Garden, officers deployed spike strips, damaging the rear driver side tire, but Schoenen continued north on 14th Street Southwest, reaching 69 miles per hour in the 2300 block where it’s a 35 miles per hour zone.

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Schoenen got back on the I-15 spur and went east into the city, reaching 112 miles per hour on Country Club Boulevard with a deflated rear tire, according to court documents.

He continued at 68 miles per hour down 10th Avenue South where another officer was using GFPD’s drone to monitor Schoenen as officers weren’t directly pursuing him as he continued eastbound until turnin south on 23rd Street South.

He then turned east onto 24th Avenue South until he reached the dead end and tossed a contained of methamphetamine onto the roadway, according to court documents.

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Some of the meth was recovered and officers learned that around that point in the incident, Schoenen had consumed multiple fentanyl pills, according to court documents.

At the deadend, he turned around coming back toward where police cars were waiting at the intersection with 26th Street South, but he maneuvered around them, turning north onto 26th, where he drove 62 miles per hour and around the bend, drifted into the southbound lanes, reducing speed and a Montana Highway Patrol trooper was able to execute a pit maneuver and stop Schoenen’s truck.

Schoenen was taken into custody. Meth was found in his pocket and a search warrant was obtained for his truck, where officers found about five ounces of meth, 13 fentanyl pills with more than 30 grams of a fentanyl pill type mixture, 16.6 grams of fentanyl powder and 32 grams of heroin, according to court documents.

He was also cited for a “myriad” of traffic offenses, but prosecutors are making charging decisions on those.

Schoenen is on conditional release from the Montana Department of Corrections and is ineligible to post bond, but prosecutors were unsure at the time of filing of Schoenen’s discharge date so requested a $100,000 bond.