An Oregon man awaits a court hearing after being accused of leading authorities on a chase through Pike County Missouri with speeds topping 100 miles per hour.
Nineteen-year-old Christian Alexander Widmann of Portland is charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. He also faces three misdemeanor assault charges.
According to a probable cause statement, the chase began shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday along U.S. Highway 61 near Bowling Green. A Missouri Highway Patrol trooper reported clocking a car with California registration going 94 miles per hour in the 65-mile-per-hour southbound lanes.
The trooper said the car exited onto U.S. Highway 54 and speeds increased to more than 100 miles per hour. The suspect allegedly led law enforcement on a chase through parts of Louisiana and Clarksville as well as several rural areas. An effort to stop the vehicle with spike sticks at Route D an N south of Louisiana failed.
Authorities allege the suspect’s car returned to Louisiana, where it was stopped after striking a patrol vehicle driven by Pike County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Langley near Fourth and Gap Street just west of the Champ Clark Bridge.
The deputy was not hurt, but a passenger in the suspect’s car was taken to Pike County Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. She was identified as 20-year-old Katarayna Nielsen of Battle Ground Washington.
Additional charges may be filed. Widmann was being held without bond in the Pike County Jail at Bowling Green. Authorities say an Oregon youth correctional facility had issued a warrant on him for an alleged assault charge.