A Bloomfield man awaiting a court date on felony drug charges was arrested Tuesday following a high-speed chase through Dexter, which injured four police officers.
Thomas Aaron Christian was taken into custody at the culmination of the pursuit.
The 25-year-old is charged with the Class B felony of second-degree assault and the Class E felony of resisting a lawful stop.
Christian is accused of “knowingly causing physical injury to Josh Benton, a law enforcement officer and special victim” by ramming his vehicle into Benton’s patrol vehicle.
Benton is a captain with the police department
The Dexter Police Department received a complaint of a careless and imprudent driver at about 12:05 p.m. in the area of Stoddard and Walnut streets, according to Detective Cory Mills’ probable-cause statement.
The vehicle reportedly was described as a blue Nissan Versa.
Officer Thomas Forkum responded to the call and saw the suspect vehicle, driven by Christian, allegedly run a stop sign at the intersection of Stoddard and Walnut streets, Mills said.
The suspect vehicle allegedly nearly struck the officer’s vehicle after running the stop sign, Police Chief Trevor Pulley said in a news release.
“Officer Forkum attempted to initiate a traffic stop on Christian; however, he failed to stop and accelerated to a high rate of speed,” Mills said. “A vehicle pursuit ensued, and Christian led officers through several streets in the Dexter city limits at speeds in access of 100” mph.
Mill described Christian’s actions as being consistent with being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
As the pursuit continued, Mills said, he and Benton and his passenger, Officer Don Donner, responded to assist Forkum.
Christian allegedly lead officers north on Highway 25, where, Mills said, Christian made an abrupt turn onto Lighthouse Drive at the Lighthouse Christian Center.
Mills said Christian traveled about 50 yards and then made a sudden U-turn and traveled back toward Highway 25.
“Christian then veered left and struck the front, right side of Capt. Benton’s vehicle and continued west,” Mills said. “At this time, I rammed the right side of Christian’s vehicle, which immediately disabled it.”
Mills said Forkum then broke the driver’s side window of Christian’s vehicle, and Christian was removed from the vehicle.
Christian was taken into custody and transported by ambulance to Saint Francis Health Center in Cape Girardeau.
Pulley said Christian was treated and released into custody.
Benton, Forkum, Donner and Mills were treated for minor injuries at SoutheastHEALTH of Stoddard County and released.
According to Mills, it was later learned Christian had removed an electronic-monitoring device from his ankle. The device was enforced when Christian was released from custody in Cape County, pending a court date for felony drug charges,
Christian’s criminal history includes two guilty pleas in Taney County, Missouri, for domestic violence in 2015 and for distribution/delivery of a controlled substance in 2013.
Christian also has a guilty plea in Stoddard County Circuit Court for possession of a controlled substance.
Christian, who is being held without bond, is to appear at 1 p.m. Thursday before Judge Joe Z. Satterfield for arraignment on his charges.
Michelle Friedrich contributed to this story.
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