A man who led authorities on a high-speed chase through Kalispell last year received a five-year sentence to the state Department of Corrections in November.  

Judge Amy Eddy handed the sentence down to Matthew Francisco Cupp, 27, in Flathead County District Court on Nov. 14. She also gave him credit for 256 days of time served.  

Cupp pleaded guilty to felony criminal endangerment in September after taking a deal from prosecutors. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop efforts to designate Cupp as a persistent felony offender. 

Authorities arrested Cupp in the breezeway of an Appleway Drive apartment complex on March 4 following a chase that began on the west side of Kalispell, according to court documents. Kalispell Police officers first began searching for Cupp after receiving reports of a man shoving a woman against a camper on Sixth Avenue West about 1:42 p.m. 

Officers caught up with Cupp, who had left in a white passenger car with California plates, on the U.S. 93 Bypass, court documents said. When they hit the emergency lights, Cupp allegedly turned onto Three Mile Drive. Fleeing the police, Cupp ignored a red light and hit speeds of 80 miles an hour, according to court documents.  

Merging onto North Meridian Road, Cupp allegedly weaved through traffic and ran a stop light at the intersection with U.S. 2. He turned onto Appleway Drive and pulled into an adjacent apartment complex, where he continued to flee on foot, court documents said.  

Following a roughly 10-minute search, officers found Cupp in an upstairs breezeway, according to court documents. 

Cupp allegedly denied any involvement in the chase at first but later admitted to running from the police. He told officers he fled because he lacked a driver's license and was on probation in California, according to court documents.  

A search of Cupp's vehicle turned up bullets, a glass bong, glass pipe, small ziplock bag, a glass vial containing suspected methamphetamine, a Texas driver's license with Cupp's photo but a different name and a California-issued birth certificate for Cupp, court documents alleged. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].