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WILLISTON Police have identified the man suspected of robbing a Williston bank Monday, then fatally shooting himself as police closed in on him in a Divide County field more than six hours later.

James Edward Krimm, 42, of Valley City, is believed to have robbed the American State Bank in Williston at gunpoint shortly before 5 p.m. Monday. He then allegedly fled the scene in a green car that was spotted a short time later in the Culbertson, Mont., area. During a pursuit involving a Montana state highway patrolman, Krimm exchanged gunfire with the trooper, managing to shoot out a tire on the patrol vehicle thus disabling it. Following that incident, Krimm was believed to have escaped.

However, the green car was found stuck and abandoned in the Westby, Mont., area some time after 10 p.m. Soon thereafter, authorities received a report of a stolen black pickup, and the chase was on again, albeit short-lived this time.

Police finally caught up with Krimm on a back road in the Fortuna area when the pickup got stuck after a pursuit through an area with high vegetation and marshy conditions near the North Dakota-Montana border.

Roosevelt County, Mont., Sheriff Freedom Crawford told The Associated Press that Krimm exited the vehicle and fired a single shot, killing himself, at about 11:20 p.m. Crawford said his deputies returned fire, unaware that the suspect shot at himself and not them, but their rounds did not strike Krimm. A large sum of cash was found in the pickup.