Man Crashes His Car Into a Tree and Ingests Drugs Before Being Arrested

At around 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, a Missoula police officer observed a vehicle in the 3200 block of North Reserve Street that was displaying fictitious license plates. The officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop. The vehicle pulled into a parking lot, but had no intentions of stopping. Police Public Information Officer Travis Welsh explains.

“The vehicle actually accelerated and drove between rows of cars before leaving the parking lot,” Welsh said. “The vehicle went westbound on England Boulevard. The officer began to pursue the vehicle. It turned northbound on Flynn Lane. Where Flynn Lane actually turns back to the east, a Missoula County Sheriff’s deputy was waiting and deployed stop stick in an effort to slow the vehicle.”

According to Welsh, the vehicle swerved to avoid the stop sticks and struck a tree. The driver got out immediately and was met by officers. Officers ordered him to the ground and he was taken into custody without further incident.

“The male was identified as 28-year-old Brian Kickingwoman,” Welsh said. “It was determined that Mr. Kickingwoman was on probation for drug related charges. They contacted his probation officer and Mr. Kickingwoman was taken into custody and transported the Missoula County Jail. As the suspect was fleeing the officer, the officer made observations that the suspect was grabbing stuff from inside the car and shoving it in his mouth. They later determined that to be marijuana.”

Before Kickingwoman went to jail, he was taken to St. Patrick Hospital because of the crash and because he ingested toxic materials. He is currently being held for felony probation violation, felony tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, reckless driving, and possession of drug paraphernalia.