Adam M. Easter, 35, died Aug. 24 after leading police on a chase along I-55 from Herculaneum north to Arnold and back south to Festus, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported Saturday afternoon.
Easter’s last known address was in Festus, the report said.
He reportedly shot at police during the pursuit and after he stopped the black SUV he was driving inside a garage in the 1100 block of Alexander Drive in Festus.
Easter had once lived in the home with his family, but it had been unoccupied for some time, authorities reported.
During a press conference on Tuesday in Herculaneum, Capt. Gary Higginbotham of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said that during the shootout in Festus, Easter partially got out of the SUV to shoot at officers, but then got back into the vehicle and continued firing at officers.
The officers returned fire, and eventually, Easter’s body was found inside the vehicle, Higginbotham said.
No officers were shot or seriously hurt during the incident, authorities reported.
It’s unclear if Easter shot himself or was struck by bullets fired by law enforcement officers. However, the Sheriff’s Office characterized the incident as an “officer-involved shooting” when identifying Easter as the shooting victim.
Higginbotham said more details about Easter’s death will be available when a Medical Examiner’s report is completed, adding that he did not know when that report would be finished.
“All officers will be on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation,” the Sheriff’s Office reported.
The incident began shortly after 1 p.m. Aug. 24, when Easter was driving a black Chevrolet Equinox, and a Herculaneum Police officer pulled him over near the Herculaneum exit to I-55. While the officer tried to get Easter out of the vehicle, he allegedly drove off, dragging the officer for a distance.
The officer was not injured, authorities said.
For part of the police pursuit, there was a passenger inside the SUV, and later, authorities identified the passenger as one of Easter’s family members who was a registered sex offender and was listed as an “absconder.”
An absconder is a registered sex offender who has failed to report his registry information as required by law, the Herculaneum Police reported.
During the pursuit, the passenger was let out along I-55 near Hwy. M and was taken into custody, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
After the pursuit went north on I-55 to Hwy. 141 and back on southbound I-55, Easter got off on Hwy. Z in Pevely and eventually ended up inside the garage on Alexander Drive in the Alexander Heights subdivision in Festus, Higginbotham said.
He said it is not clear if Easter crashed into the garage, “but he did push through the garage door, which was closed.”
Higginbotham said that while no officers or Sheriff’s Office vehicles were shot, “there were police cars hit.”
He said no Sheriff’s Office vehicles were struck by bullets, but other law enforcement vehicles were.
Higginbotham said it is not yet known how many firearms Easter had with him.
“Not done processing the vehicle yet,” Higginbotham said.
Two bullets from the incident struck the home of Leader publisher Pam LaPlant, who lives near where the pursuit ended. No one was home at the time. It was the only residence other than the one where Easter formerly lived struck by bullets, Higginbotham said.
Leader editor-reporter Steve Taylor, who also lives near where Easter died, was at home for lunch when the pursuit ended in his subdivision and could not leave his house for nearly two hours while police vehicles had the street blocked off.
Confusion over
sex offender reports
The Herculaneum Police Department organized Tuesday’s press conference, held at the Herculaneum Fire Department station, to “clarify” details that led police to pull over Easter in Herculaneum on Aug. 24.
Herculaneum Police Chief Mark Tulgetske said his department began seeking the black Equinox on Aug. 23 after receiving a report about a suspicious person parked in that type of vehicle on Lake Drive at Meadow Drive in Herculaneum. According to the report, a man was sitting in the SUV waving at “children from the Herculaneum school track team who were practicing running down the street.”
When police traced the license plate number from the SUV, authorities learned the owner was a registered sex offender listed as an absconder.
The person who reported the suspicious activity said he had seen the same vehicle in the same location two weeks earlier. Herculaneum Police alerted Dunklin R-5 School District officials about the report, and school officials notified students and parents, warning them about the incidents.
During the course of the investigation, officers determined the person inside the SUV at Lake Drive and Meadow Drive was Adam Easter, who reportedly spoke to at least two children. However, officers said that “Easter may not have been trying to lure children, but rather was attempting to locate a home where someone involved with his ex-wife lived.”
Herculaneum Police said Easter had applied for and been denied the purchase of a firearm “five days prior to the initial report date (the report made on Aug. 23).”
Higginbotham said Easter’s family member has not yet been charged for failing to update his sex offender registration, but the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is investigating the case and working to find records about the sex offense, which stems from the 1980s.
Easter’s family member is not considered a suspect in the pursuit or shootout with law enforcement, Higginbotham said.