NEWS

Great Falls high-speed chase suspect changes pleas

Andrea Fisher-Nitschke

A Great Falls man accused of leading a Montana Highway Patrol trooper on a brief high-speed chase in April changed his pleas in court Thursday.

Daniel Scott Nishoff, 18, pleaded guilty to three charges through a plea agreement with the state.

Through the deal, the chase case was combined with a drug possession and DUI case filed in March. Nishoff pleaded guilty to criminal endangerment, a felony, for placing his teenage passenger at risk during the chase, along with a drug possession charge that was amended from criminal possession with intent to distribute and second DUI, a misdemeanor.

The agreement calls for multiple drug paraphernalia charges and a traffic offense to be dismissed. The deal carries a lighter recommended sentence if Nishoff qualifies for the 8th Judicial District Drug Treatment Court of a five-year suspended Department of Corrections term on the drug charge to run concurrent to a three-year suspended DOC term on the criminal endangerment charge.

If Nishoff does not qualify for Drug Treatment Court, he faces two years of DOC commitment in the five-year term, and the additional three years of probation will run consecutive. Either way, Nishoff also faces a recommended six-month suspended county jail sentence on the DUI charge and a $500 fine. The defendant in currently incarcerated, and has been since the chase.

Nishoff admitted in court to driving a friend to a fast food restaurant after drinking many beers. He said Great Falls police officers arrested him in the parking lot for DUI and observed a jar of marijuana under the seat of his vehicle while he was performing sobriety maneuvers. Nishoff said investigators searched his car while he was in jail and found more than 60 grams of marijuana in the jar. Court documents say 400 grams were found in Nishoff’s car along with an empty box of sandwich bags and a scale.

The defendant said he posted bond for the DUI and was later arrested on the drug possession warrant after the search of his vehicle was completed. The chase occurred while those charges were pending.

According to MHP Trooper Geoff Groshelle, Nishoff’s vehicle was spotted traveling 95 miles an hour on the interstate just outside of Great Falls around 2 a.m. April 24. With the trooper in pursuit, the vehicle’s driver took Exit 280 at 120 miles an hour before crossing over the Central Avenue West median. The vehicle then began traveling east in the westbound lane at 75 mph before crashing into two parked cars.

Nishoff admitted to driving at speeds that put his 16-year-old passenger at risk of serious bodily injury. Charging documents indicate both were taken to Benefis after the incident, where they were treated and released. No one else was injured during the chase, which lasted less than two minutes.

Nishoff’s sentencing date will be set by court order after the drug court screening process.