A Festus man is dead after leading police on a chase this afternoon (Aug. 24) along I-55 from Herculaneum north to Arnold and back south to Festus.
Whether he shot himself or was killed by law enforcement is not yet known, said Capt. Gary Higginbotham of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, speaking from the crime scene about 2:30 p.m. He said he did not know exactly when the incident began or have any other information about the suspect, except that he was driving a black Chevrolet Equinox during the pursuit and had a passenger in the vehicle during part of the chase.
“The passenger in the car was let out on northbound I-55 at Hwy. M,” Higginbotham said. “He was taken into custody. He may be facing charges from Herculaneum unrelated to this (case).”
Higginbotham said the incident began in Herculaneum during a traffic stop.
“It was an assault of an officer where the officer was dragged by the car,” he said. “The officer was not hurt.”
After the pursuit went north on I-55 to Hwy. 141 and back on southbound I-55, the suspect got off on Hwy. Z in Pevely and eventually ended up in a Festus subdivision at a house in the 1100 block of Alexander Drive, Higginbotham said.
The man shot at police vehicles during the pursuit and continued shooting after stopping his vehicle in the Alexander Heights subdivision, Higginbotham said.
“He was firing at law enforcement,” Higginbotham said. “He fired numerous shots at police vehicles during the pursuit.”
Higginbotham said no officers were injured, but “there were police cars hit.”
He said no Sheriff’s Office vehicles were struck by bullets, but other law enforcement vehicles were.
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.
Leader editor-reporter Steve Taylor, who also lives near the home where the suspect died, was at home for lunch when the pursuit ended in his subdivision and could not leave his home for nearly two hours while police vehicles had the street blocked off.
A Dunklin R-5 School District spokesman said law enforcement told school officials that the man killed after the pursuit is not the same man suspected of recently trying to entice area children.