Man arrested after high speed chase

A Montana man was arrested near Sundance last week after a high-speed chase that involved the theft of three separate vehicles, one of which he allegedly used to crash into a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper's vehicle and another that was involved in a serious crash in Campbell County.

Roger Forsman's flight was brought to an end when a Crook County Sheriff's Office deputy used his own vehicle to disable the Jeep that Forsman was driving. This decision was made for civilian safety as Forsman neared the City of Sundance.

"The Sheriff's Office priority at that point becomes the protection of life and to prevent him from harming anybody else," says Sheriff Jeff Hodge.

"The subject had already demonstrated a complete disregard for human safety and lives, so the decision was to stop him with any use of force needed. The deputies recognized an opportunity where there was no oncoming traffic and they could get him stopped before he was able to enter Sundance."

Reports came in late on the evening of August 18 that a vehicle crash had occurred on I-90 near Gillette, with Wyoming Highway Patrol reporting that the subject, later identified as Forsman of Billings, MT, had fled the scene.

Shortly after, according to his report, Sergeant Dan Bush heard the subject had stolen a vehicle and a pursuit had ensued in Campbell County.

Bush reports hearing on the radio that Forsman had intentionally crashed the truck into a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper's vehicle on Highway 50. An ambulance was paged to the location.

A perimeter was set up in Gillette to contain the suspect, while Bush and Deputy Nick Kaminski stationed themselves at milepost 167 on I-90 in the event the pursuit headed across the county line. Gillette Police advised over the radio that the stolen truck had been located and Forsman was thought to be on foot and possibly armed with a firearm.

A short time later, Gillette Police reported witnessing a Jeep "slow rolling" or leaving the area and a broken gate was found that appeared to have been driven through. Bush and Kaminski continued to stage for some time, but eventually Kaminski cleared and headed east.

Bush reports that he remained parked perpendicular to the interstate with his headlights facing the eastbound lane for a while longer. He then observed a Jeep matching the description traveling at what appeared to be normal highway speed and advised Kaminski to slow down and allow the vehicle to catch up so he could take a look at it based on the report of the vehicle that left the scene in Gillette.

According to the incident report, Kaminski advised that the truck had passed him at 103 miles per hour and had a county 17 license plate. While they attempted to catch up with the Jeep, they were told that the suspect had attempted to hit a Campbell County Sheriff's Office deputy and intentionally crashed the Jeep into a Highway Patrol trooper's vehicle.

Forsman is said to have exited on the truck pull-off at milepost 177 and then immediately entered back onto the interstate. Bush reports activating his emergency lights and siren, at which point Forsman allegedly accelerated to over 100 miles per hour.

"Based on information the suspect was involved in multiple pursuits, had stolen multiple vehicles and was possibly armed with a firearm while in Gillette, we did not want to allow him to enter the Sundance residential area," reports Bush.

For this reason, it was determined that force should be used to stop the vehicle. Kaminski was advised that, if the suspect slowed again and the road was clear of traffic, he should make contact with the Jeep with his patrol vehicle to end the pursuit.

Near milepost 183, the truck slowed to 43 mph and continued to slow, but reportedly refused to stop. As no traffic was observed in or around the area, Bush advised Kaminski to "hit" the suspect vehicle.

Doing so caused the Jeep to spin around within the highway. It came to a stop facing west in the eastbound lane.

According to the report, Kaminski exited his vehicle and ordered Forsman out of the Jeep and onto the ground. Despite the loud verbal commands, the suspect allegedly refused to exit.

After multiple commands, Forsman allegedly opened the driver's door but still did not exit, so Kaminski deployed his Taser and struck Forsman in the right-side lower back area.

At that time, reports Bush, Forsman exited the Jeep and laid on the ground, where he was handcuffed and taken into custody at 0:38 a.m. on August 19.

Forsman was allegedly found to be wearing a black hoodie that matched descriptions from Campbell County, as well as a black ski mask.

Forsman is reported to have said the Jeep was not his and he didn't know who it belonged to. When asked about the first vehicle he had been driving and the incident in which he hit a Highway Patrol vehicle, Forsman allegedly began to cry and ask if the trooper was ok.

Questioned about the initial crash on I-90, Forsman allegedly said he was driving when someone passed him and then the crash occurred; he left the scene and obtained a black truck and "at some point" ran into the Highway Patrol vehicle and then continued, before obtaining the Jeep.

Bush transported Forsman to the Crook County Detention Center, where he was interviewed before being transported to Campbell County to be charged.