ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY, Mo. – Four men from the Chicago area are in custody for trying to break into a home in a small fishing community in rural Missouri and then fleeing from law enforcement.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol and St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department, the crime happened just after 7:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 21, in Iron Mountain Lake.
St. Francis County dispatchers were notified by a homeowner that multiple people were attempting to break into his residence.
Sheriff’s deputies and a state trooper arrived just after 7:40 p.m. and saw two vehicles—a black BMW X2 and a silver BMW X2—fleeing the area without their headlights or taillights activated. The trooper attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the drivers refused to pull over.
The chase continued onto eastbound Highway 32 when law enforcement deployed stop sticks and disabled the silver BMW X2. The driver and passenger were arrested without further incident.
The sheriff’s department said the black BMW X2 continued into Leadington, Missouri, but became disabled near a convenience store. The driver and passenger ran off and hid. Leadington police located one of the men, while the other occupant was chased across both lanes of Highway 67 and last seen near the entrance of the Mineral Area College Campus.
The campus was placed on a temporary lockdown as authorities searched for the suspect.
Law enforcement deployed drones and K9 units to assist in the search. The suspect was found hiding in an unlocked van just after 10 p.m. and arrested.
The St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Anthony C.D. Needham with one count of resisting arrest and Justin S. Pearce and Ryan E. Peart with one count of aggravated fleeing. All three men are jailed on a $150,000 bond apiece. They’re scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 30.
As of this writing, charges against the fourth man have not appeared in online court records.