Suspended sentence for drunk driver who drove into house
Hungry Horse News | UPDATED 5 days, 6 hours AGO
A Columbia Falls man was recently sentenced to five years suspended and ordered to Flathead County drug court after he led police on a chase last August and ultimately ran into a house up the North Fork.
According to court documents, on Aug. 7, 2025 at about 10:35 p.m. Columbia Falls Police officer Todd Hall was following Paul Eric Sorensen’s white SUV on First Avenue East North in the city. When Sorensen came to the stop sign at Railroad Street, he allegedly failed to make a complete stop and drove up Railroad Street going 55 mph in a 25 mph zone.
Hall put on his emergency lights and pursued Sorensen up the North Fork Road, as Sorensen allegedly drove erratically, going about 38 mph and weaving and braking as he went for more than a mile.
Sorensen then made a turn into an eastbound driveway up the North Fork Road, narrowly splitting between trees as he drove behind a home before hitting the support pole of the rear porch. The pole came off the house and hit Sorensen’s rig, damaging the front bumper and the mirror.
By then Sorensen had finally stopped. Hall told him to put his hands up at gunpoint but Sorensen ran to the front of the house. Hall used his Taser on Sorensen, but Sorensen stood up and ran away. Hall hit him again with the Taser and Sorensen tried to get up and roll over on his back, reaching into his sweatshirt pocket with his right hand. Hall then punched Sorensen in the head. Sorensen still struggled but Hall eventually got cuffs on him.
Sorensen previously had DUI convictions in California in 2007; in Hawaii in 2018 and Kalispell in 2022, according to court documents.
Sorensen had eight previous DUI convictions, Columbia Falls Police Chief Chad Stephens said at the time.
Under a plea agreement, two misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and fleeing a police officer were dropped.
Flathead County District Court Judge Paul Sullivan on May 7 sentenced Sorensen to five years suspended with the Department of Corrections and the requirement that he attend Flathead County Drug Court.