VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Three people are facing charges following a high speed pursuit in Barnes County on Sunday, June 25th.

The pursuit started about 1:43am Sunday morning after a Valley City police officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a 2018 GMC Sierra occupied by four people on a city street.

The vehicle fled toward Interstate 94 eventually going the wrong way on I-94 attempting to evade law enforcement at a high rate of speed of more than 100 mph. Traffic on the interstate had to move over to avoid a collision with the suspect vehicle.

The vehicle got off the interstate and continued south on County Road 11 toward Litchville, ND. While a Barnes County deputy followed the vehicle the occupants threw several tools at the squad unit and shined spotlights attempting to blind his vision. The suspect vehicle continued driving south of Highway 46 toward Marion, ND. The vehicle went around a closed road barricade. The vehicle came upon a flooded roadway where it stopped and was boxed in by two sheriff’s deputies patrol units, the vehicle then drove forward into the ditch and was immobilized in a lake. The occupants fled from the vehicle, three individuals were arrested, but one occupant is still at large.

According to court documents, 35-year-old Benjamin Emerson of Fargo and 42-year-old Eric Paye of Fargo are facing Felony Reckless Endangerment and other charges as well as 27-year-old Dulijeta Beganovic of Fergus Falls, MN stemming from this incident. The three made their initial court appearance on Monday, June 26th in Southeast Judicial District Court in Valley City.

Emerson and Paye remain in the Barnes County jail on a $7,500 bond according to the Barnes County jail inmate roster as of June 27th. Beganovic was placed into custody in the Stutsman County Correctional Center in Jamestown.