High-speed chase ends with two arrests
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
A deputy escorts one of two suspects taken into custody following a high-speed chase Monday morning into the Nodaway County jail. The other suspect was being examined at St. Francis Hospital after officers determined he may have been under the influence of a mind-altering substance. Speeds during the pursuit were reported to have approached 120 mph.
One suspect was jailed and another was taken to St. Francis Hospital following a high-speed chase that began in Burlington Junction late Monday morning and ended less than a half-hour later at the Highway 71/Route U intersection south of Maryville.
Authorities identified the men as Jerry Joe Gilpatrick, 32, and Steven Wesley Stains, 39. Both are from St. Joseph. Gilpatrick was reported to be the driver during the pursuit.
Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rice said possible drug and weapons charges were pending.
In the aftermath of the chase, officers searched along the side of Highway 71 near Gray’s Truck Stop & Restaurant for objects reportedly thrown from the suspects’ car. Rice said the objects, which were recovered, allegedly included drug paraphernalia and a handgun.
In addition, Rice said, a substance believed to be amphetamine was allegedly found by officers in one of the suspect’s shoes.
Sheriff Darren White said the chase began when deputies Travis Casteel and Travis Cochenour were dispatched in a single patrol vehicle to Burlington Junction in response to a suspicious car call.
White said the deputies first encountered the suspects in the middle of town riding in an older-model green Lincoln Continental, the driver of which fled east on Highway 136 upon spotting the two officers.
Casteel and Cochenour gave chase, and the pursuit continued to the 136/71 “T” junction, where the Lincoln turned south toward Maryville.
White said he joined the chase at Highway 71 and Route FF. Additional Nodaway County units began pursuing the Lincoln as well, along with patrol vehicles from Maryville Public Safety.
White said speeds during the chase approached 120 mph.
Maryville police where able to deploy a strip of tire spikes across Highway 71 near Gray’s Truck Stop & Restaurant, which punctured the Lincoln’s driver’s-side tires.
The spikes are designed to cause tires to deflate slowly, and so the suspects were able to continue south to the stoplight-controlled intersection at 71 and East First Street (Highway 136). There, Gilpatrick was able to avoid a second spike trip and continue southbound.
White said Gilpatrick lost control of the wheel while approaching a second stoplight near the Kawasaki Motors plant on the south edge of town. He said the sedan “spun around several times” and rolled through a grassy area before the driver was able to move back onto the pavement.
At that point, White said, the chase continued south to Route U, where Gilpatrick attempted to turn east off of the four-lane and onto the two-lane blacktop.
However, the suspect lost control of the wheel a second time, careened through the median, and traveled across the two northbound lanes of 71 before coming to rest on the east side of the highway.
White said both suspects then fled on foot, with Gilpatrick being apprehended by a Maryville Public Safety officer and Stains being taken into custody by the sheriff, who said he and several other officers drew their guns while making the arrests.
While Gilpatrick was taken to jail, Stains was transported to St. Francis Hospital. White said he was treated there by medical personnel because he was believed to be under the influence of a mind-altering substance. Stains has since been incarcerated.
No one was injured during the pursuit, the sheriff said.
