Stillwater County crime spree? Authorities are investigating

What started out as a Rapelje burglary and vehicle theft in-progress last month has stretched across three counties and resulted in two arrests.
And local lawmen suspect the pair could be involved in several other Stillwater crimes.
“We are looking into the possibility of their involvement in several other active investigations,” said Stillwater County Undersheriff Chip Kem.
Ryan Steve Barnhart, 25, and Keriann Ruth Reed, 26, have been identified by Kem as the suspects in the Aug. 18 Rapelje incident.
According to dispatch records, at 2:48 p.m. a Molt-Rapelje Road resident reported someone broke into his garage, stole a blue 1978 Ford pickup truck and was headed west toward Big Timber. Later that day, the victim discovered several outbuildings on his property had been burglarized and vandalized. The area was processed as a crime scene with footprints and vehicle track impressions made, according to dispatch records.
At the time he reported the crime, the resident followed the thief and saw a second suspect in a green Dodge short-bed pickup who he believed was possibly involved. Both suspects crossed over into Sweet Grass County, where Montana Highway Patrol and Sweet Grass County authorities were waiting.
MHP Trooper Joe Hensley had overheard Stillwater County dispatchers talking about the incident and requested help in patrolling Howie Road. Sweet Grass County Undersheriff Jerry Mahlum spotted both pickup trucks headed toward a roadblock at the Otter Creek fishing access manned by Sweet Grass County Sheriff Dan Tronrud, according to court documents.
Barnhart, who was allegedly driving the stolen Ford truck, accelerated and drove around the roadblock and was followed by Reed in a 2007 Dodge truck, according to court documents. Reed allegedly drove through the roadblock and directly toward Tronrud, prompting him to fire one shot.
Reed crashed the truck and when approached by lawmen, laid on the ground with her hands tucked beneath her body. When she failed to show her hands after several requests, Hensley used his taser. When she rolled over, she dropped a pair of wire-cutter style pliers, according to court documents.
Several weapons were recovered from the Dodge that are believed to have been stolen from Yellowstone County, said Kem.
Barnhart made it through the roadblock and although pursued into the Boulder valley, managed to escape.
He was arrested Sept. 2 in Yellowstone County after he tried to steal two vehicles there and evade law enforcement officers, according to the Big Timber Pioneer. He is charged with three counts of felony theft and multiple misdemeanors including obstruction of a peace officer and two counts of misdemeanor theft for the Billings incident alone.
He also faces charges of fleeing or eluding a peace officer and running a law enforcement roadblock in Sweet Grass County and is currently jailed with bond set at $135,000. Of the 11 charges listed on the Yellowstone County Detention Facility website, at least five are felony crimes.
Reed is charged with one felony count of endangerment and a misdemeanor count of fleeing or eluding a peace officer. She has denied both charges.