Shooting investigation aided by lucky breaks, says sheriff

From Boulder, Montana to Blackfoot, Idaho – with connections in Butte, Helena and Dawson County in far eastern Montana – the investigation of a November 13 shooting incident near Montana City included a series of “lucky breaks,” Jefferson County Sheriff Craig Doolittle said late last week.

Jefferson County Deputy Tom Grimsrud was attempting to make a routine traffic stop on Interstate 15 just north of Clancy when the vehicle took off. As a chase unfolded, a passenger leaned out of the front window and fired at Grimsrud, hitting the hood and windshield of the patrol car. Grimsrud was not injured.

Two days later three men were arrested in Bingham County, Idaho, and charged with drug and firearms offenses there. They also face charges in Montana in connection with the alleged attempted deliberate homicide.