A vehicle pursuit that reached speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour went on for nearly 20 miles in the early morning hours of Saturday, Jan. 3 in Platte County.
Law enforcement officials from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Platte County Sheriff’s Office eventually stopped a stolen Pontiac Grand Prix with four occupants using Stop Sticks near the Mexico City Avenue exit on Interstate 29. Three individuals were taken into custody, and 20-year-old Damarcus Jamal Crayton of Kansas City, Kan. — the driver of the stolen vehicle — remains at the Platte County Detention Center facing a pair of felony charges.
The chase nearly came full circle, according to a probable cause statement.
At about 1:19 a.m. that night, a MSHP trooper clocked the Pontiac at 85 miles per hour in a 65 zone on Highway 152, just east of I-29, and turned on emergency equipment in an attempt to make a traffic stop. The vehicle accelerated away and reached speeds of more than 110 miles per hour before turning off onto N Highway and heading north toward Platte City.
The vehicle weaved in and out of its lane and avoided Stop Sticks deployed by the sheriff’s office south of NW 136th Street.
Once reaching the roundabout at that intersection, the driver turned east on NW 136th before blowing through a stop sign and turning back northbound on Running Horse Road. The chase proceeded into Platte City where the stolen Pontiac went through a red light at Highway 92 and immediately took the southbound on-ramp to I-29.
Crayton then pulled a U-turn and accelerated back up the ramp north before reversing 180 again and driving through the median and onto the interstate.
The Pontiac hit Stop Sticks at the 15.8-mile marker, deflating the driver’s side tires, and came to a stop on the shoulder of the road about a half-mile later. Two passengers fled on foot, and one was taken into custody.
The driver was taken into custody without incident and identified as Crayton, while a third passenger was also detained on site.
A check of records on the vehicle and its temporary Kansas registration identified it as stolen. During an interview, Crayton admitted to operating the vehicle during the pursuit. He faces a Class C felony of tampering with a motor vehicle and a Class D felony of resisting a lawful stop while creating a substantial risk of serious injury or death to a person.
None of the other occupants have been charged in the case.
Crayton faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted on both charges. No injuries were reported in the probable cause statement to the occupants of the stolen car, officers or members of the public.