John R. Hahn, 35, of Arnold has been charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors after allegedly stealing an SUV, fleeing from police in it and crashing it. Hahn and two other men were hurt in the three-vehicle accident, Arnold Police report.
At about 12:30 p.m. Nov. 3, Hahn was at his girlfriend’s mother’s house in the 2400 block of Villa Drive in Arnold and while arguing with the mother, he allegedly took a key for the SUV off the woman’s key ring and stole the vehicle, a white Mercury Mountaineer, a probable-cause statement said.
That night, at about 10:05 p.m., Arnold Police got a call that Hahn had returned to the home, allegedly driving the stolen SUV there, and was arguing with his girlfriend. Before officers made it to the home, though, Hahn had left in the vehicle, the report said.
A short time later, an Arnold Police officer spotted Hahn driving the SUV north on Jeffco Boulevard at Hwy. 141 and tried to pull him over. However, he allegedly speeded up and tried to flee from the officer, according to the report.
However, when Hahn got to the intersection of Jeffco and Tenbrook Road in front of the Fox schools campus, he allegedly ran a red light, and a vehicle that was turning with a green light from Tenbrook onto southbound Jeffco struck the stolen SUV, which then was pushed into another vehicle that was turning from the Fox campus onto northbound Jeffco, Detective Lt. James Jones said.
The driver who was turning from Tenbrook onto Jeffco was a 29-year-old Arnold man, and the driver who was turning from the Fox campus onto Jeffco was a 29-year-old St. Louis man, Jones said.
Hahn sustained minor injuries in the accident and was taken by ambulance to St. Anthony’s Medical Center in south St. Louis County.
The drivers of the other two vehicles also sustained minor injuries, with the Arnold man taken by ambulance to an area hospital and the St. Louis man taken by family members to an area hospital, Jones said.
After Hahn was treated at St. Anthony’s, an Arnold Police officer was trying to take him into custody, but Hahn allegedly resisted arrest and punched the officer in the face. The officer was not seriously hurt and eventually the officer subdued and arrested him, Jones said.
Hahn already was wanted on warrants and a $29,000 bond in Jefferson County, so he was transported from the hospital to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Jones said.
On Tuesday (Nov. 2), the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Hahn with one count of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and one count of resisting arrest, both felonies, and two counts of fourth-degree assault, both misdemeanors.
The tampering charge is a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, and the resisting arrest charge is a class E felony that carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
The assault charges are class A misdemeanors, and each one is punishable by up to one year in jail.
Hahn was being held Wednesday evening in the Jefferson County Jail on a $150,000 cash-only bond.
Jones said Arnold Police plan to seek other charges against him stemming from two previous cases.