HAMILTON, Mont. (AP) — An Idaho man who stole a truck in western Montana and led officers on a 30-mile chase to the slopes of a ski hill has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, but the judge suspended 15 years of the term.

    Larry J. Gardner, of Pocatello, was sentenced Thursday by District Judge James Haynes, the Ravalli Republic reported (http://bit.ly/ZPsYDw).

    Gardner, 67, pleaded guilty earlier to felony theft, two counts of felony criminal endangerment, speeding and fleeing from police for the December 2012 chase that Haynes argued was indicative of an escalating pattern of bad behavior.

    “You don’t seem to care if you commit behavior that could wind you up in prison,” Haynes told Gardner. “Your actions could have killed someone, or at the very least scared them badly.”

    Gardner was pulled over for speeding in Darby while driving a pickup truck he took from a Hamilton hospital parking lot because he became impatient while waiting for a relative to pick him up, prosecutors said. During the traffic stop, Gardner drove off, they said.

    The pursuit led officers on the winding road to the Lost Trail Powder Mountain ski area. Prosecutors alleged Gardner attempted to pass other vehicles in no-passing zones and several times drove in the middle of the road to kick up slush into the windows of pursuing officers.

    At the ski area, Gardner weaved through cars in the parking lot before turning toward the lodge and trying to drive up the snow-covered slope, the newspaper reported.

    He was arrested after his vehicle became stuck in the snow in an area congested with skiers.

    Haynes told Gardner that he should address his mental health issues, including taking his prescribed medication.

    “You have said that you don’t like taking lithium because you don’t like the taste or that it feels like somebody took a baseball bat to your head,” the judge said. “But when you don’t take your lithium, it’s like taking a baseball bat to society.”