Macon County prosecutors have filed felony and misdemeanor charges against the Kirksville man accused of leading a La Plata police officer on a high-speed chase last week, that ended with the officer’s patrol car wrecked and the driver caught in the woods across the county line.
Casey W. Allen, 30, was charged Wednesday in Macon County Circuit Court with five counts stemming from the June 24 chase, led by a felony count of resisting arrest by fleeing in a manner that created a substantial risk of serious injury or death, according to the complaint in case 26MA-CR00193).
That charge is a class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison. Allen also faces misdemeanor counts of careless and imprudent driving, speeding, running a stop sign and driving without insurance.
The Macon County case is separate from charges filed earlier in Adair County (case 26AR-CR00478), where the pursuit crossed after leaving La Plata. As the Chronicle reported last week, Allen was tracked down by a Schuyler County sheriff’s K-9 in timber east of First Trail in Kirksville and taken into custody without incident the night of the chase.
The new complaint is built on the account of La Plata Officer Taylor Enlow, who wrote in a sworn probable cause statement that the chase began as a routine traffic stop.
Enlow reported he pulled over a red Chevrolet Tahoe on Brown Street about 8:20 p.m. for going 59 mph in a 35 mph zone. The driver, who gave his name as Casey Wayne Allen, had no driver’s license and no insurance and appeared nervous, the officer wrote, and said he believed he had a Macon County warrant for speeding.
Enlow detained Allen while he checked on the warrant, the statement said. Allen asked to make a phone call so someone could come pick up the Tahoe, then walked back to the vehicle, got in, put it in gear and sped off, according to the statement.
What followed was a run through the middle of La Plata. The Tahoe turned off Brown Street onto Benton, then Jones, then Moore, running stop signs and a yield sign before getting back onto Brown Street and reaching speeds over 100 mph as it left the city limits, Enlow wrote.
The chase continued south on Old Highway 63 and west onto Jasper Avenue, a gravel road, where the officer estimated Allen was still traveling more than 60 mph. Enlow reported he lost sight of the Tahoe in a cloud of dust and slid off a blind corner, striking a fence line and trees. The crash disabled his patrol car and ended the pursuit.
Enlow was taken by Macon County EMS to Samaritan Hospital for treatment of injuries from the wreck, according to the statement. La Plata Fire and Still Towing also responded.
Allen was wanted in three counties at the time of the chase, including a Sullivan County felony burglary case and warrants out of Macon and Schuyler counties, court records show.
Meisner’s complaint asks the court to issue a warrant for Allen’s arrest.
The charges are allegations. Allen is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.