An attempted traffic stop by a La Plata police officer touched off a high-speed pursuit across two counties Wednesday night, leaving the officer’s patrol car wrecked and ending with a 30-year-old Kirksville man tracked down by a sheriff’s K-9, according to court records and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Casey W. Allen, 30, now faces a felony charge of resisting arrest by fleeing in a manner creating a substantial risk of serious injury or death, along with driving while suspended, careless and imprudent driving, and speeding, the Highway Patrol said in a probable cause statement filed in Adair County (case 26AR-CR00478).
It started in Macon County. A La Plata officer tried to stop a dark red Chevrolet Tahoe and reported that the driver, identified as Allen, was wanted on active felony warrants. Allen fled north toward La Plata, and his flight caused the officer to crash his patrol vehicle during the pursuit, according to the statement by Sgt. G. Gaines. The officer relayed a partial disabled plate of KJ70.
Gaines clocked the Tahoe in Adair County at 80 mph in a 55 mph zone on Route 3 and gave chase as it sped onto gravel, passing another vehicle on a hill crest before vanishing in a cloud of dust. Kirksville police picked up the pursuit minutes later; one officer reported the Tahoe was “nearly going airborne” crossing LaHarpe Street. A resident told troopers it went south on First Trail “at about 100 miles per hour” before it sounded like it crashed.
Officers found the Tahoe abandoned on a private lane east of First Trail. A neighbor reported seeing a man run from the vehicle into the timber. K-9 units from the Macon County and Schuyler County sheriff’s offices were brought in, and a Schuyler County dog tracked Allen down in the woods around 9:55 p.m. He was taken into custody without incident. A key fob found on him matched the Tahoe, the Patrol said.
Allen was wanted in three counties. A Sullivan County felony case (26SU-CR00011) charges him with second-degree burglary and leaving the scene of an accident, both felonies, plus careless and imprudent driving and no insurance, stemming from a Jan. 13 crash on Route 6 in which another vehicle was struck from behind. When Allen failed to appear, the court issued a $30,000 cash-only warrant on May 1.
KTVO reported he also carried a Macon County warrant for speeding and a Schuyler County warrant for second-degree harassment.
Allen was booked into the Adair County Jail on a 24-hour hold and a $30,613 cash-only bond pending formal charges in the Adair County case.
The charges are allegations. Allen is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.