A 21-year-old Belcourt man is charged with reckless endangerment after he allegedly fled from law enforcement at speeds up to 108 mph between Stanley and Berthold on U.S. Highway 2, once driving in the wrong lane. Waylon Lee Lavallie was allegedly drunk at the time.

Lavallie was scheduled to make an initial appearance in district court in Stanley on Monday before Judge Doug Mattson.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, a Mountrail County deputy was dispatched Friday evening after a report was received that a vehicle was driving recklessly on Highway 2 near Stanley. The deputy wrote that he saw the red Pontiac Grand Prix – a car belonging to Lavallie’s father, which his father later said Lavallie was not authorized to use – cross the yellow line and switch lanes without using a blinker. The deputy stopped the vehicle and told Lavallie he had pulled him over for swerving on the roadway. The deputy noticed an open beer can in the center counsel and a non-opened beer can on the front seat. He asked Lavallie for his driver’s license. Lavallie told the officer he didn’t have his driver’s license but did have ID. Lavallie reached for his pocket but grabbed for the shift, put the car in gear and took off, leaving black skid marks on the highway.

Law enforcement gave pursuit as Lavallie fled at speeds from 102 mph to 108 mph, passing other cars on the highway. The pursuit went out of Mountrail County into Ward County. In Berthold, Lavallie allegedly drove to the west bound lane and turned off his lights in an attempt to hide. The deputy saw the vehicle and turned his car around, facing west. The vehicle took off again, traveling east in the west bound lane. After a couple of miles, Lavallie returned to the proper lane. A Highway Patrol trooper took over the pursuit, chasing Lavallie as he drove from one side to the other multiple times and going into the ditch. Law enforcement used spike strips several times before the tires on Lavallie’s car were blown out. Lavallie eventually went off the road on a four wheeler path and crashed into a fence line and tree and shrubs.

Lavallie is facing multiple charges, including reckless endangerment and unauthorized use of a vehicle, both Class C felonies; DUI, a class B misdemeanor, fleeing a police officer, a Class A misdemeanor, and reckless driving, a Class B misdemeanor.

He was also charged with open receptacle in a vehicle, speeding, and driving the wrong way on a roadway.

– Andrea Johnson