A man police were chasing as an armed and dangerous federal fugitive in East Missoula this morning is in police custody tonight after being caught this afternoon.
About 11 o’clock Tuesday morning, a car chase ended in a truck crashing into a tree at an East Missoula mobile home court. William Dale Newhoff fled that scene on foot.
Missoula College was put on lockdown as a precaution, and students, faculty and staff at the University of Montana were sent text messages warning them to be on the lookout for a man in a black hoodie. They were told he was armed and that the Kim Williams trail beside the Clark Fork River was closed.
Police conducted a house-to-house search in East Missoula and tracked down at least two suspects in the area who turned out not to be Newhoff, who was being pursued by federal marshals on an outstanding warrant. A helicopter aided in the search.
The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office announced just before 2 p.m. that Newhoff had been taken into custody.