A Coram man serving probation for a fatal 2023 highway wreck was sentenced to the state Department of Corrections in July after drunkenly stealing and crashing a pickup truck earlier in the year.  

Authorities arrested a slurring Robert James Larocque III, 18, on June 3 after they caught him fleeing the wrecked 1988 GMC pickup near the intersection of U.S. 2 and Belton Stage Road, according to court documents. He had been arrested earlier that same day for violating his probation in the juvenile case. 

Prosecutors subsequently charged Larocque with felony theft of a light vehicle and misdemeanor driving under the influence, first offense, and sought the revocation of his 2024 sentence in the juvenile case. Records of juvenile cases are not publicly available. 

Although Larocque initially pleaded not guilty, he took a plea deal in July. Under the terms of the deal, Larocque was to admit violating probation and plead guilty to both charges in the 2026 case. 

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to recommend he receive a partially suspended five-year sentence to the Department of Corrections for felony theft and serve the mandatory jail time for the drunk driving charge. 

Larocque changed his plea on July 14. Judge Amy Eddy, who presided over the case, sentenced him that same day to five-years with the Department of Corrections with no time suspended for the theft charge and a suspended six-month jail sentence for the drunk driving charge. In the juvenile case, Eddy sentenced Larocque to the Department of Corrections until he turns 21 on Jan. 14, 2029.  

Eddy ordered all of the sentences to run concurrently and gave him credit for time served. 

Court documents indicate that Larocque has struggled while on probation since entering the system in 2024 after killing two people while driving under the influence as a minor.  

Following a stint in Pine Hills Correctional Facility, he "immediately tested positive for cocaine, removed his GPS and SCRAM monitor, absconded from supervision, and was called in as runaway," court documents said. After transferring to adult probation following his 18th birthday, Larocque turned to methamphetamine and alcohol, court documents said. 

Larocque is listed as being held in the Dawson County Correctional Facility in Glendive as of Nov. 12.  

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 406-758-4430 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.

READ MORE:

Man allegedly steals and then crashes a pickup truck in Coram