The Associated Press
Related: Naked suspects: No laughing matter
WILLISTON, N.D. — A report of a naked man sitting in a pickup truck near an eastern Montana county road led to a chase by vehicle and searches on foot and by air, authorities say.
Law enforcement agencies in eastern Montana and northwestern North Dakota were involved in the chase and search Sunday night and Monday. Highway Patrol troopers from both states also were on standby.
Scott Rierson, 40, of Walker, Iowa, was arrested in Dagmar, Mont., nearly 19 hours after the initial report of a suspicious man Sunday night.
Police did a routine check after the report and discovered that the pickup had been stolen from Minnesota.
“When the deputy arrived to respond, the suspect fled,’ driving back and forth across the Montana-North Dakota border, said Freedom Crawford, sheriff in Montana’s Roosevelt County. “He was naked when the motorist spotted him in the vehicle. He managed to get on some bib overalls later.”
The suspect escaped from the deputy, and on Monday morning authorities found the vehicle in a coulee northwest of Bainville, Mont. A search ensued, and Rierson was later apprehended after a tip from a Dagmar resident.
People in the area had been told to lock their houses and vehicles, and be on the lookout for the suspect.
“First, we did not want him to be a danger to the public, and second, we did not want him to take anybody else’s property,” Crawford said.
Rierson is charged with felony possession of stolen property and might face other charges, Crawford said. His bond was set at $50,000. Rierson also is wanted in California on a drug charge, the sheriff said.
Crawford said he could not comment on why Rierson allegedly stole the pickup, and why he was naked when he was first spotted on the rural county road.