Charges filed against man arrested after Interstate 55 chase

Charges were filed Wednesday against a man who led police on a car chase down Interstate 55 Tuesday.

James Lee Powers, 27, of East Prairie, Mo., was charged Wednesday with assaulting a police officer, resisting a lawful stop and driving while revoked by the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

According to a probable cause statement written and signed by Mike Alford, Powers fled police after they tried to pull him over on suspicion of purchasing pseudoephedrine pills from multiple pharmacies in Jackson.

Officers pulled Powers over in the Cape Girardeau Honda lot on Siemers Drive at around 6 p.m., according to the statement.

"When the officers got out and approached the vehicle, the driver accelerated almost hitting one of the task force officers," Cape Girardeau Police Department spokesman Cpl. Jason Selzer said.

Powers got on the interstate traveling south. He drove off the road, struck a ditch and drove through a field to Highway E, Selzer said.

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said his deputies were posted at the Benton exit, but the driver went off the interstate before reaching the exit.

Walter said the state highway patrol contacted the owner of the vehicle, the father of the driver. Using a cell phone, the father contacted his son, who turned himself into authorities in Advance at 9 p.m., Walter said.