Nicholas Lowell Roper, 28, of High Ridge has been arrested and charged with two felonies after fleeing and getting away from Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies three times in a 24-hour period. He was being sought for allegedly stealing an SUV, authorities reported.
Roper was charged on Monday (Feb. 8) with first-degree tampering, a class D felony that carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison, and resisting arrest, a class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
He was being held Tuesday (Feb. 9) on a $250,000 surety bond, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said.
At about 6:40 p.m. Feb. 6, Roper allegedly stole a 2001 Nissan Xterra left unlocked and running outside the Imo’s restaurant, 1870 Little Brennan Road, in High Ridge, while the victim was inside the restaurant. Roper reportedly had been walking through the parking lot before the SUV was parked there and then allegedly stole it. The vehicle was valued at about $4,000, Bissell said.
Deputies spotted the SUV twice that night and attempted to pull over Roper, but he allegedly drove away both times, forcing deputies to call off the pursuit, Bissell said.
Each time Roper drove away from the deputies, he allegedly put new license plates on the Xterra, making it harder to identify. So, a lieutenant contacted the victim, who gave the officer identifying information about previous damage on the body of the vehicle and one of the tires, Bissell said.
After that, deputies spotted the Xterra at about 11 a.m. Feb. 7 near the intersection of Hwy. 30 and Hwy. PP, and chased it again, but the pursuit was called off when the driver fled into St. Louis County, Bissell said.
At 6:30 p.m. Feb. 7, the SUV was spotted for a fourth time, and before attempting to stop the vehicle, more deputies were called to the area. A deputy attempted to pull over the Xterra, and Roper again fled. However, deputies put spike strips on the road at Hwy. 30 and Old Sugar Creek Road in Fenton, and the spikes deflated all four tires on the SUV, Bissell said.
Roper still continued to flee, though. Deputies continued the pursuit, and Roper got onto I-255 in St. Louis County before the SUV stopped working near the Lindbergh Boulevard exit, Bissell said.
He said the SUV’s tires had deteriorated and Roper was driving on the rims before a rim broke off, sending the Xterra into the concrete median that divides the eastbound and westbound lanes on the interstate.
Bissell said Roper got out of the SUV, jumped over the barrier and ran towards a Hooters restaurant on Lindbergh Boulevard. However, deputies and St. Louis County Police officers tracked down Roper and arrested him.
Bissell said the Sheriff’s Office is investigating Roper’s possible connection to other crimes in the county and could seek more charges against him.