A Wolf Point man is facing multiple charges of carjacking and an armed convenience store robbery.
Santana Cruz Ledeau, 26, was arraigned in Great Falls Federal Court on March 7, 2023. He was charged with one count of robbery affecting commerce, two counts of carjacking, attempted carjacking, and two counts of using, carrying and brandishing a firearm in the furtherance of a crime of violence, court documents state.
He was ordered into custody pending further proceedings.
On June 11, 2022, Ledeau robbed On the Run, a convenience store and threatened an employee with violence before running away. Billings police were tipped off by witnesses who saw Ledeau enter the Vegas Hotel. When they entered the room, they found unopened bags of chips, a machete, and a red shopping basket. Ledeau was in the bathroom at the time and immediately apprehended, reports state.
On September 30, 2022, a woman parked her Nissan SUV near the Billings Clinic when a man wearing a red hoodie opened the driver’s side door. He demanded the keys and held what appeared to be a gun to her head. As she handed over the keys Ledeau sprayed pepper spray in her face and left her in the parking lot, the Billings Gazette reported.
About a week later, the SUV was found abandoned in another county, and a fingerprint found inside the vehicle came from Ladeau. He was charged by county authorities in Roundup, where the vehicle was found, Another state warrant was issued for him.
The next week Ledeau led Great Falls Police on a high speed chase, the Billings Gazette reported. Police called off the chase eventually, when Ledeau fled south along Interstate 15 to Ulm, where he allegedly shot out a back window in another car during an attempted carjacking.
Reports state Ledeau went further south and is alleged to have stolen a different vehicle after the one he was driving ran out of gas, after which someone approached him on the highway and asked him if he needed a ride to get gas. Ledeau threatened the driver with a gun and took the vehicle.
Deputies from the Cascade County Sheriff’s office reached Ledeau in Cascade, and he allegedly tried to run one of them over as he drove off. Two other deputies fired shots at Ledeau’s vehicle. He continues south on I-15 to Wolf Creek. He went onto Highway 200, where police blocked his southward path and forced him north, reports state.
Ledeau’s vehicle collided with a deputy’s at this time, while Ledeau was pointing a gun at the deputy’s head when the two vehicles were close together.
He drove over road spikes from the Montana Highway Patrol west of Simms, and he continued until hitting another vehicle and going into the ditch.
The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office, Great Falls Police Department, Montana Highway Patrol, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office and US Customs and Border Protection helped in the chase leading to his arrest.
If convicted of the federal charges, Ledeau faces 20 years in prison.
He is also facing state charges in Cascade County and Yellowstone County for robbery and carjacking.
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