Ponsford man charged with eight felonies after high speed pursuit across three counties

A 44-year-old Ponsford man was recently charged with multiple felonies after a pursuit that spanned several counties.

According to the criminal complaint, on April 12, Hubbard County deputies were called to a rural Bemidji residence around 5 a.m. on report of a suspicious male requesting assistance with a vehicle stuck in the woods. The responding deputy found the running, unoccupied vehicle in the woods about two hours later, which was stolen with stolen plates.

While a K9 team was searching the area, the suspect, later identified as 44-year-old Timothy Bellanger, allegedly robbed a couple of a red Ford Explorer. The female victim reported that the suspect, while holding a rope and hammer, stated he needed the keys, and she thought she would be tied up if she did not cooperate.

The pursuit began on Hubbard County Road 9, reaching speeds of well over 100 miles per hour, crossing Clearwater County before the vehicle pursuit ended on Mahnomen County Road 3, af

Bellanger was charged with eight felonies, including first degree assault, aggravated robbery, burglary, theft, fleeing an officer and other charges. Unconditional bail was set at $400,000, and he will make his next court appearance next week.


Larissa Donovan was the News Director for the stations of Paul Bunyan Broadcasting and has been, almost without interruption, since Election Day 2016, through July 2023. She covered all the beats in north-central Minnesota, such as local government, crime, education, environment and social issues. She studied communications at Bemidji State University. You can follow along with Larissa's live tweets of meetings and events on Twitter!


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