Havre teen killed in car crash

A Havre teenager is dead and the Vaughn teenager he was with was taken to Northern Montana Hospital after an accident early Wednesday morning.

The driver, recent Havre High School graduate 18-year-old Jaden Griggs, was driving his 2003 Dodge pickup truck, with 19-year-old Nykolaus Beach, on 82nd Avenue West, near U.S. Highway 87, at 2:27 a.m. when he lost control.

According to the Montana Highway Patrol report, the truck "entered the ditch on the left side of the roadway, struck an approach … vaulted and rolled at least twice coming to rest on its top.

"Driver was fully ejected and was pronounced dead at the scene."

Neither occupant was wearing their seatbelt when the accident occurred.

Griggs had just graduated from Havre High School in May. Only three weeks ago, he went to Dearborn, Mich. with classmate Nate Welch and teacher Garret Neiffer, for the 2012 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills State Hands-On Competition, after having placed first in the state in May. He was planning to study diesel technologies at Montana State University-Northern in the fall.