Paul Hamby
Billings Gazette, Mont.
BILLINGS, Mont. — Billings police arrested a man on suspicion of driving under the influence after he drove through a blocked zone, dragging a firefighter trying to stop him along the way.
Eli Rindal, 23, drove through cones that marked off an area where power crews were repairing a transformer at Bench Boulevard and Joyce Street in the Heights, according to police Sgt. Brett Becker. When one of the firefighters in the blocked-off area reached through the driver’s-side window to stop him, he hit the accelerator.
The firefighter held onto the vehicle for about 100 yards, and Rindal eventually stopped. Becker said the firefighter was treated at the scene and didn’t need to go to the hospital.
“Once he stopped the firefighters kept him there until officers arrived. They did their preliminary DUI investigation at the scene ... and then took him to our DUI center,” Becker said.
Along with driving under the influence, Rindal was also arrested for suspicion of criminal endangerment.
The Billings Fire Department declined to comment on the firefighter’s identity, or his injuries.
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©2020 the Billings Gazette (Billings, Mont.)