A House Springs man has been charged with a felony in connection with a hit-and-run accident last month that threw a motorcycle rider off his bike and into another car. The incident happened on Hwy. 141 at Fiedler Lane between Arnold and Fenton.
Jacob Lee Whitmore, 28, has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident that caused property damage of more than $1,000, a class E felony, court documents show.
As of today, March 2, he was being held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro.
According to court documents, Whitmore lives on Willdella Drive in House Springs. However, the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s accident report said he lived in Fenton.
Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers arrested Whitmore on Feb. 19 for an unrelated incident. Cpl. Logan Bolton said.
However, the probable-cause statement in the case said investigators had identified Whitmore as a suspect in the hit-and-run incident prior to his arrest.
The crash happened at about 5:25 p.m. Feb. 15, when Blake Ball, 33, of Arnold was on a 2000 Harley-Davidson Sportster 883 that was stopped on northbound Hwy. 141 and a blue Chevrolet Cruze hit the motorcycle from behind, the Highway Patrol reported.
In a video posted on Facebook, the Cruze can be seen hitting the motorcycle and throwing Ball into the air. Then, Ball landed on the back of a Chevrolet Camaro that was stopped in front of the motorcycle.
The Cruze, which had a temporary license plate and a plate holder with the name of an area car dealership, then could be seen backing up, going around a median, getting into the left-turn lane and driving away on northbound Hwy. 141.
Ball, who was wearing a helmet, said he went to SSM St. Clare Hospital in Fenton the day after the accident and believes he will need to undergo therapy treatment for whiplash.
The probable-cause statement said the collision caused more than $7,800 worth of damage to the Harley-Davidson.
On Feb. 16, investigators used Flock traffic cameras that can identify vehicles by license plates and descriptions, to determine if the Cruze was in the area before the collision. Investigators discovered Whitmore was the registered owner of the Cruze through a computer check of the temporary license plate, the report said.
The Highway Patrol applied for a search warrant to seize the Cruze, and investigators confirmed it was the car seen driving away from the accident, according to the report.
The probable-cause statement also said Whitmore was seen on surveillance video at about 4:15 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Phillips 66 gas station, 698 Gravois Bluffs Blvd., in Fenton, driving the Cruze.
Court records show that Whitmore was on probation at the time of the accident after pleading guilty in April 2017 in Jefferson County to second-degree assault for operating a vehicle while intoxicated leading to an injury, a class C felony.
Whitmore had been sentenced to five years, but he was released from prison and placed on five years’ probation after completing a 120-day treatment program, court documents said.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office also recently charged him with possession of a controlled substance, a class D felony, following an arrest in August 2022 in Arnold, according to court records.