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| Darrell Sander |
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| A truck involved in a chase by the Vernon County Sheriff's office is pulled out of the ditch. Richard Smith with TCB is operating the tow truck. Submitted photo.
A lengthy pursuit ends in the arrest of a Nevada resident early Thursday morning.
Vernon County Sheriff Jason Mosher and Lt. Jacob Crahan were working a late night extra patrol detail focused on patrolling the areas in the county that have had a rash of burglaries.
According to a statement from the Sheriff's Department, the sheriff and his lieutenant attempted to stop a truck heading east on Austin Boulevard when the truck took off.
Western Missouri dispatch was notified around 2:35 a.m. that a pursuit had started and was heading east on Austin Boulevard A second Vernon County deputy was dispatched and was able to join the pursuit as it left Nevada on Old Town Road.
The truck led the sheriff and his deputies back and forth across the county, crossing U.S. Highway 54 on two separate occasions.
Lt. Crahan said the truck turned onto a gravel road in what he thought was an attempt to lose them in the dust caused by the fleeing vehicle. But when that did not work, the driver jumped out of the moving truck and ran into a cornfield, leaving the truck rolling down the road and eventually crashing in the ditch, according to the sheriff's office.
Sheriff Mosher said they were monitoring the speed and traffic conditions throughout the pursuit. "It was late enough there just wasn't any other traffic out," said the sheriff. I have already warned the criminals in the county, if you run, we will find you and you will go to jail."
The sheriff said he was in the county's new SUV 6-cylinder police interceptor that was purchased earlier this year in an effort to help save gas money. "It may have a 6-cylinder but it didn't have any trouble keeping up in the pursuit," said the sheriff.
Lt. Crahan said they had additional deputies respond to the scene and set up a perimeter around the cornfield. After about 30 minutes of searching for the suspect, he was finally located by Sheriff Mosher.
According to the sheriff's office, the suspect was lying on his back in the middle of the field in an attempt to elude the deputies.
The suspect was identified by the sheriff's office as Darrell Sander, 30, of Nevada. Sander was transported to the Vernon County Jail where he was charged with felony charges of fleeing/resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance as well as multiple traffic violations.
A warrant was issued Thursday afternoon setting Sander's bond at $100,000 cash only. The sheriff said he was glad they were able to apprehend Sander without anyone getting hurt.
According to reports from the sheriff's office, Sander was also arrested by sheriff's deputies in Kansas a couple of months ago after Vernon County deputies chased Sander into Kansas, where Sander wrecked his car in a ditch.
Courtesy of Vernon County Sheriffs FB Page |
