Authorities arrest man after he flees accident

A Bonne Terre man wanted for violating his probation/parole was arrested after fleeing from police Tuesday.

Bonne Terre Police Chief Doug Calvert said the pursuit began at about 1:45 p.m. when Officer Stan Jaco heard a crash in the area of Highway 47 and Jefferson Avenue. The officer discovered that a gray Chevrolet had struck another vehicle and the driver kept driving west on the highway.

Jaco turned on his lights and sirens to stop the vehicle but the driver fled and turned onto Old Cadet Road. The officer lost sight of the vehicle near Douglas Road.

Calvert and Lt. Chris Thurman assisted Jaco in attempting to find the vehicle in the area. Calvert said Jaco was able to find the vehicle in a driveway behind a residence on Ringer Road near Old Cadet Road which turned out to be where the man lived.

They discovered the man was wanted for felony absconding from probation/parole and for failing to appear on Bonne Terre municipal charges.

Police searched a few buildings in the area before they saw the man, who was wearing no shirt, run into the woods. Calvert said the police officers ordered him to stop running but he continued running west along a fence line.

For about two hours, Bonne Terre Police, with the assistance of Washington and St. Francois county deputies, Terre Du Lac Police, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, searched for the man.

Calvert said a Washington County deputy found the man hiding under hay bales behind a barn near Ringer Road. He was arrested without further incident.

He said the driver of the vehicle that the man hit was not injured and the vehicle received only minor damage.

Calvert said the man is being charged through the city with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, failure to yield, resisting arrest by fleeing and careless and imprudent driving.