Stolen truck strikes CPD officer’s vehicle during pursuit
A Columbia Police Department officer engaged in a pursuit about 1 a.m. Wednesday after he identified a vehicle as being stolen out of St. Louis County.
The officer spotted the vehicle, a tan Toyota Tundra, near the Gedern subdivision heading east on Quarry Road.
The officer pursued the vehicle, catching up to it near Rueck Road. At that point, the truck turned around and fled west on Quarry Road.
The officer pursued, though the truck pulled away even as the officer reached speeds of over 80 miles per hour.
The truck turned on Old State Route 3, heading north as the officer followed. The truck then pulled into R&M Oil & Supply, so the officer positioned his vehicle to block the exit.
The truck turned around and rammed the front of the officer’s vehicle to escape, causing minor damage to the steel push bumper of the police vehicle.
Again at high speeds, the truck continued south on Old State Route 3. A Monroe County Sheriff’s Department deputy deployed stop sticks near the intersection of Old State Route 3 and Quarry Road, but the truck got through them.
The Columbia police officer pursued the truck on I-255 west to the Jefferson Barracks Bridge, but could not catch up. The officer then radioed St. Louis County law enforcement about the truck.
Columbia Police Chief Jerry Paul credited the department’s increased patrols in the area with spotting the stolen vehicle.
“We’ve been aggressively patrolling the north end of town because of all the cars getting stolen and all the burglaries,” he said.
The MCSD has also helped with increased patrolling in the area.
In this case, Paul predicted those efforts thwarted a crime.
“We probably prevented another burglary or crime in Columbia,” he said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t catch him.”
Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to contact the Columbia Police Department at 618-281-5151.
According to an Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network broadcast, the driver of the truck was possibly a black male wearing a black hoodie. The stolen truck has a Missouri license plate of 5FBP25.
