A surprise visitor Sunday evening (April 3) at Bethel Church in Festus turned out to be a man sought by law enforcement, officials say.
Church members gave the man, a stranger to them, a ride to where he requested, only later learning he was fleeing from police.
Ryan K. Huskey, 28, Festus, was wanted on a number of felony drug-related charges and other charges from Jefferson County and other jurisdictions, said Cpl. Juston Wheetley of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Huskey was arrested at 6:32 p.m. at a residence in Festus, Wheetley said.
According to court records, Huskey was charged Feb. 16 with one count of possession of a controlled substance, a class C felony, and he's facing prior drug-related, failure to appear and traffic charges from Jefferson, St. Louis and St. Francois counties dating back to 2014. About five of the approximately 20 charges are felonies and the rest are misdemeanors.
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Forrest Wegge said Tuesday (April 5) that no charges had been filed in connection with Sunday’s events.
Huskey was being held without bond Tuesday in the Jefferson County Jail, authorities reported.
Wheetley said the incident started with a traffic stop.
“Our trooper pulled over a driver for speeding northbound on (I-55) near (Hwy. 67 south of Festus),” he said. “Through his investigation, he found the passenger had numerous warrants out for his arrest. The passenger took off running toward a nearby church.”
Wheetley said the suspect convinced church members to give him a ride to Festus Main Street.
“An officer arrived at the church and found members of the church had given him a ride into Festus,” he said. “Our troopers were joined by local officers (from Festus and Crystal City), found him at a residence and arrested him.”
Pastor Mike Hoggard of Bethel Church, 1233 American Legion Drive, said the suspect came into the church at about 5:50 p.m. and immediately aroused suspicion among church members. He entered the church basement by following behind a child who opened a door using a pass code.
“When he came in, some ladies asked if he needed help and he said his car had broken down and he needed a ride,” Hoggard said. “He was pacing back and forth and looking out the window. Two of our men came down and offered to give him a ride. He said he wanted to go to the White Grill on Main Street because his grandmother had an apartment there.
“They both felt they needed to get him out of the building. One of them has a conceal-carry license and was carrying a gun. They took him to Main Street.”
Hoggard said the church members involved do not want to be identified.
Almost immediately after they left with the suspect, law enforcement arrived at the church, he said.
“About 30 seconds or a minute after they left, a police car stopped by and asked about the man,” Hoggard said.
Wheetley said the suspect bolted from the car on Main Street, but state, county and municipal law enforcement converged to track him down.
Hoggard said he sent church members home.
“I canceled services because I didn’t know if (the suspect) would come back,” he said. “Everyone was safe. We were very relieved our guys were safe.”
He said the two men from his church said they would have detained the suspect if they had known he was wanted, but he believes the situation played out for the best.
“God wanted you to get this man away from our church,” Hoggard said he told the men.
The patrol took the driver in the traffic stop, a 22-year-old Festus man, into custody for suspicion of possessing drug paraphernalia. He was released pending application for warrants.