Hit and Run Incident Kills 10 Year-Old Boy in Hamilton

UPDATE:10:00 p.m. Sunday, July 7

The suspect in Sunday afternoon's fatal hit and run incident was taken into custody on Sunday evening. Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton issued the following press release:

'Ravalli County Sheriff / Coroner Steve Holton said that the suspect in a hit and run fatality was apprehended at a house in Hamilton on Sunday evening.  Sheriff Holton said 59-year-old Joseph McNamara was taken into custody by the Ravalli county sheriff's office, Montana Highway Patrol, and Hamilton Police Department. Mcnamara was remanded to the Ravalli County Detention Center for the offense of negligent homicide in the hit and run death of the unidentified 10-year-old Hamilton boy. Information learned during a traffic stop led to locating McNamara at a residence in Hamilton. The Montana Highway Patrol is investigating the hit and run and will release further details as the investigation proceeds.'

UPDATE: 5:00 p.m. Sunday. July 7

Sergeant Scott Bennett with the Montana Highway Patrol confirmed late Sunday afternoon that a 10 year-old boy was struck and killed in a hit and run incident just after 1:00 p.m. on Golf Course Road near Hamilton.

The suspect, 53 year-old Joseph McNamara, was still at large as of 5:00 p.m., and Sgt. Bennett said McNamara has had numerous run ins with law enforcement over the years. Bennett said friends of McNamara told authorities that he had been drinking prior to the incident, but could not confirmed that he was legally drunk at the time.

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As of 3:08 p.m. a manhunt was underway in Hamilton by the Montana Highway Patrol, Ravalli County Sheriff's Office and other agencies to apprehend a man suspected of a hit and run incident in which a male juvenile was struck.

KGVO spoke briefly with MHP Sergeant Bennett who was at that moment chasing down the suspect with a team of dogs that could be heard baying in the background.

Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton provided more details of the incident that occurred early Sunday afternoon.

"The suspect is Joseph McNamara," said Sheriff Holton. "Deputies were able to locate his vehicle without him inside at about the 1400 block of Golf Course Road, just south and east of Hamilton. "We believe he is on foot somewhere south of Hamilton. He is wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans with a kind of a gray and green baseball cap. He is actively evading law enforcement , so we're just trying to get the word out."

Holton said anyone who spots the suspect should not attempt to approach of apprehend him.

"Anyone who sees him should call the 9-1-1 emergency line and we'll send law enforcement out there," he said. "The safest course is if you see him, contact law enforcement and let them know what he's wearing now of if he is in a different vehicle, and we will send troopers and deputies out to apprehend him."

Holton said a helicopter has also been provided to aid in the search for McNamara.

The condition of the victim was not known when this story was released.