MINOT – A 45-year-old New Town man was seriously injured when he crashed into a stack of hay bales in Ward County.

According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, a trooper attempted to stop the man, who was driving a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500, for a traffic violation on Highway 2. The driver fled, and troopers began a pursuit.

The pickup truck exited Highway 2 and headed west on Ward County Road 12 before turning south onto 156 Street Southwest. Spikes disabled the pickup truck, which then traveled south on Ward County Road 14 and entered a field.

According to a Highway Patrol news release, officers set up a perimeter around the field and then discovered that the pickup truck had driven into a “large stack of round bales.”

Neither the driver nor the passenger, a 45-year-old woman from Stanley, were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident. Both were seriously injured and taken to Trinity Hospital in Minot.

The driver was charged with driving while license revoked, fleeing from a police officer and serious reckless driving, the press release said.

The Highway Patrol continues to investigate the accident and the chase.

The pursuit took place about 10 miles south of Minot.

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