North Dakota man sentenced after high speed chase

A North Dakota man has been given a suspended sentence after leading law enforcement on an extended high speed chase over a year ago, reaching speeds well over 100 mph.

On January 5, 2020, a Crook County Sheriff’s Office Deputy was patrolling Hwy 585 when he clocked a white vehicle at 77 mph in a 70 mph and deputy executed a traffic stop. The driver was identified as Harold William Barney III via his North Dakota driver’s license.

After the deputy spoke with Barney and received conflicting information about his travel plans, a narcotics canine was deployed around the vehicle. The dog alerted, but Barney allegedly denied there being any illegal substances present and did not give consent to perform a search of the vehicle.

According to sheriff’s office reports, the deputy explained he had probable cause to perform a search. Barney allegedly locked the door, rolled up the windows and refused, stating that he did not feel safe and was concerned law enforcement would cause him physical harm. The deputy assured Barney he was safe and that all peace officers on scene had their cameras activated.

Barney, however, continued to refuse. The second deputy allegedly retrieved stop sticks from his patrol vehicle and placed them in front of Barney’s front tires, while the first deputy explained that, if Barney continued to refuse, he would have no choice but to break his window.

Barney still refused to exit. A Sundance Police Officer was asked to retrieve a tool to break the glass.

The officer approached the vehicle. Barney allegedly began to move around inside the vehicle and reached for the shifter while the deputy issued loud verbal commands for him to remain still.

Barney allegedly placed the vehicle in reverse and backed up a short distance, causing the officer to move out of the way. He then allegedly drove forward rapidly while the second deputy was in front of the vehicle and fled the scene.

According to reports from the sheriff’s office, Barney fled east on I-90 without activating his vehicle’s lights and reached speeds of 117 mph.

As he left the interstate and returned to it and moved onto Hwy 111, he allegedly forced other vehicles off the road and continued a high rate of speed.

Barney eventually turned onto Warren Peak Road near Alva, where the deputy lost sight of him a second time and reports he stopped at the intersection of Forest Service Road 832 and waited for the second deputy. Stop sticks were placed across the road and the deputy continued south. After a few miles, he allegedly located Barney’s vehicle in the ditch.

The deputy reports that he exited his vehicle and used his PA speaker to command Barney to exit the vehicle with his hands up. He did not see or hear any movement from the vehicle.

When the second deputy arrived, the pair approached the vehicle and observed Barney face down between the seats. The deputy used an asp to break the window and unlock the vehicle and found that Barney had a strong pulse and was breathing on his own but unresponsive.

Dispatch paged EMS and Barney was transported to Sundance Hospital, then taken to Rapid City via LifeFlight. Meanwhile, the deputy located fresh footprints in the snow heading into the woods.

The deputy followed the tracks around 100 yards and allegedly located an area where someone had laid down in the snow. He continued east and came to a draw, where he saw the tracks walked in a circle.

The deputy allegedly located multiple sealed containers of dispensary marijuana with receipts attached from Denver, Colorado. The containers were hidden in and under brush. The suspected marijuana, including packaging, weighed in at 13.616 ounces.

Barney pled guilty to felony counts of possession of a controlled substance and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude and misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and interference with a police officer. Judge Thomas W. Rumpke gave him concurrent sentences of three to five years, four to five years, one year and one year for the four charges respectively, to be suspended pending successful completion of three years of supervised probation.