Billings man sentenced for trying to run over dog walker, hitting motorcyclist

A Billings man was sentenced Monday for weaponizing his SUV, putting a motorcyclist in the hospital and nearly running down a woman walking her dog.

Patrick Lee Schroeder, 46, was sentenced in Yellowstone County District Court to 30 years in Montana State Prison for multiple felonies, including aggravated assault, criminal endangerment and driving under the influence.

“The Defendant, in this case,” wrote Deputy Yellowstone County Attorney April Hoell in her sentencing recommendation, “attempted to strike a woman simply walking her dog in a field in Laurel, Montana.”

Schroeder tried running over the woman and her dog before leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase from Laurel to outside of Billings. Days later, he crashed into the rear of a motorcycle amid another pursuit by law enforcement.

On Nov. 17, 2024, a Laurel woman was walking her dog near the intersection of East Main Street and Colorado Avenue. Schroeder, at the wheel of a Honda SUV, drove up onto the sidewalk and nearly hit the two. The woman called 911, and members of the Laurel Police Department tailed Schroeder on Interstate 90 from Laurel toward Billings. With Schroeder driving at speeds in excess of 80 mph, police broke off the pursuit when Schroeder took an exit into Billings in the interest of safety.

Two days later, troopers with Montana Highway Patrol received a report of someone driving a Honda SUV on Blue Creek Road and apparently under the influence. Troopers found the SUV, with Schroeder at the wheel, parked partially in the driving lane. When the MHP cruiser rolled up behind Schroeder’s SUV, he put his vehicle in drive and headed northbound on Blue Creek Road.

Schroeder reached speeds well over 75 mph, with one pickup truck driver having to veer out of Schroeder’s path. Schroeder swerved to avoid spike strips laid on the road by a Yellowstone County deputy and then continued speeding east onto Briarwood Boulevard.

It was while on Briarwood Boulevard that Schroeder struck a 70-year-old man on a motorcycle. The rider had rolled onto the shoulder of the road to get out of the way of the oncoming pursuit when he was hit from the rear by Schroeder’s SUV.

Schroeder then proceeded to evade law enforcement, who called off the pursuit in the wake of the crash. The motorcyclist was hospitalized for head trauma, suffered cracked ribs and lost a thumb, according to court documents.

The SUV was later located in a gravel pit area, with Schroeder attempting to drive up a hill. After abandoning his SUV in a field, Schroeder took off his clothes and “began running through the hills and coulees,” court documents said. Troopers managed to catch and detain Schroeder, who allegedly admitted to smoking marijuana prior to the chase.

County prosecutors filed criminal charges against Schroeder days later. After pleading not guilty, he remained in custody at Yellowstone County Detention Facility with his bail set at over $1 million. While in custody at YCDF, detention officers found Schroeder in possession of a spoon sharpened into a shank.

Last month, Schroeder reached a plea agreement in which he admitted to counts of aggravated assault, criminal endangerment, assault with a weapon and driving under the influence.

At his sentencing Monday, Yellowstone County District Judge Donald Harris presided over the hearing in which multiple officers testified, along with the woman Schroeder tried to hit with his SUV.

In September 2023, Schroeder was previously sentenced for one count of criminal endangerment out of Lewis and Clark County. Then a resident of East Helena, Schroeder was driving his vehicle toward a neighbor and nearly caused a crash, according to reporting from the Helena Independent Record.

A Billings man is currently facing negligent homicide charges after allegedly leading law enforcement on a chase that ended with the death of a 16-year-old boy. Hayden Michael Reyes was at the wheel of a Subaru, court documents said, and driving at speeds of nearly 100 mph when he rolled his vehicle. The wreck put Reyes and a passenger in the hospital. A second passenger, a teenage boy from Laurel, did not survive the crash.

From 2014 through 2023, according to data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there was an annual average of 70 fatalities in Montana due to speeding.