Christmas Eve brought tragedy to Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation.

Henry Mosney, 19, of Box Elder, was killed when he was ejected from a 1999 Olesmobile Intrigue being driven by Dawson Demontiney, 24, also of Box Elder.

Rocky Boy Public Safety Director Tim Martin said two patrol cars saw the car traveling at a high rate of speed going toward Box Elder on Upper Box Elder Road, just west of Stone Child College. The car's emergency flashers were on, he said.

The officers turned the cars around, hoping to pursue the vehicle, but Martin said because the roads were slick, the officers lost track of the speeding car.

The lead officer, Sgt. Trina Wolf Chief, called  detention officers at the police station, asking them to step outside to see if they could observe the car, which was headed in that direction.

Detention officers saw the speeding car — with its headlights off. A few hundred feet after past the police station, the car struck a horse, Martin said. The car then spun clockwise 180 degrees and went airborne.

Demontiney fled the scene, Martin said, but he was quickly apprehended and taken into custody.

He faces three charges from the accident. 

Demontiney was taken to Northern Montana Hospital. He was later released and taken to tribal court, 

He pleaded not guilty and is being held in the detention facility on $10,000 bail. Martin said in many court systems, people are freed if they post 10 percent of the bail, but that is not the case on the reservation.

The $10,000 bail "is the equivolent of a $100,000 bail," he said.

Unless Demontiney posts bail, he will be held until his case goes to trial, Martin said.

` The FBI is investigating and may file additional charges that would be heard in federal court, Martin said.

Martin said a Montana Highway Patrol report was incorrect. Officers were not pursiung the car at the time of the crash.

"They were about 4 to 6 miles behind the car at the time of the accident," he said.