A Columbia man faces two felonies and four misdemeanors after a stolen Toyota Camry left Highway 63, rolled several times and came to rest in the Macon school student parking lot Wednesday night.
Maliq A. Straughter, of 3312 Sherwood Dr. in Columbia, was charged Friday morning in Macon County Circuit Court with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, a class D felony, and resisting a lawful stop by fleeing in a manner creating a substantial risk of serious injury or death, a class E felony. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Cody Wells also charged careless and imprudent driving involving an accident, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, exceeding the posted speed limit by 26 mph or more, and improper passing.
Associate Circuit Judge Kristen Dawn Burks issued an arrest warrant the same day and set bond at $50,000, cash only, with unlimited extradition limits. The warrant was served in Macon County on Aug. 28. Straughter was already being held on an outstanding St. Louis County warrant for leaving the scene of an accident with property damage over $1,000, carrying a separate $10,000 cash-only bond.
According to the probable cause statement filed by Macon County Deputy Jeremy Nelson, the chase reached Macon County shortly after 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 27, having started near Moberly. Nelson wrote that he picked up the silver Camry at the Excello intersection, northbound on Highway 63, running at high speed with its headlights off. He told dispatch the vehicle was traveling about 125 mph, and reported watching it pass a semi truck in the turn lane near Highway YY without signaling.
Macon police officer Johnathan Wood deployed stop sticks at Quinn Lumber on the south edge of town. The Camry continued north through Macon, passing several vehicles in the turn lane, before striking a curb at Missouri Street and Maffry Avenue in front of the Macon school. Nelson wrote that the car left the roadway and rolled three or four times into the student parking lot. The posted limit on that stretch of Missouri Street is 35 mph.
The driver ran from the wreck on foot. Nelson wrote that he braked and steered left to avoid hitting the man, and his patrol car slid and struck a piece of construction equipment in the lot. He drew his sidearm, then a Taser, and the man was taken into custody without injury. Sgt. Holt Landorf assisted in transporting Straughter to the Macon County Jail, where he was booked on a 24-hour hold.
Dispatchers confirmed the Camry, a 2025 model carrying Florida plate 44BKAY, had been reported stolen out of Boone County earlier that day. Nelson wrote that he later learned from Wood that a dog had been in the car throughout the pursuit. The Missouri State Highway Patrol worked the crash. Still Towing removed the Camry to its lot on Highway AX; the damaged patrol car went to Lewis Body Shop in Macon.
Nelson’s warrant request also sought charges of animal abuse, stealing and first-degree property damage involving law enforcement. None of the three appear in the complaint the prosecutor filed.
The charges are allegations. Straughter is presumed innocent unless and until convicted.