Court documents show timeline of Jan. 18 Cape police chase, charges against suspects

Court documents filed last week provide detailed accounts of the events surrounding the multiple felony crimes allegedly committed by two occupants of a green 1993 Ford F-150, which led officers on a pursuit Jan. 18 spanning more than 10 miles in two states.

Charles A. FranzPhoto courtesy of Pulaski County Detention Center

Probable-cause statements written by the Cape Girardeau Police Department and the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office identify Charles A. Franz, 31, of Yuba City, California, as the driver of the vehicle and 25-year-old Cameron W. Cook of Scott City as the passenger.

Cameron W. CookPhoto courtesy of Pulaski County Detention Center

The charges against Franz in Missouri and Illinois carry a combined maximum sentence of more than 175 years. The charges against Cook in both states carry a combined 135 years.

In Alexander County, Illinois, Franz and Cook are both charged with three class X felony counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm by knowingly shooting at peace officers performing their duties. Franz faces an additional class 2 felony count of disarming a police officer.

Each of the three class X felony counts in Illinois carry a mandatory imprisonment of 10 to 45 years, and the class 2 felony count is punishable by three to seven years in state prison.

In Cape Girardeau County, Franz also faces one class A felony count of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, which carries a sentence of 10 to 30 years, and one class E felony count of resisting arrest, which is punishable by up to four years.

In the days following the crime spree, probable-cause statements and other court documents have outlined a detailed timeline of the two men’s alleged criminal actions during the chase.

This graphic generated with Google Maps details the events of the Jan. 18 police chase, which began in Cape Girardeau, where the driver, Charles A. Franz, allegedly rammed a police patrol unit, and ended in Alexander County, Illinois, after the passenger, Cameron W. Cook, allegedly fired multiple shots at responding officers. information is based on Cape Girardeau and Alexander County, Illinois, probable-cause statements.(1) Cape Girardeau K-9 officer Jonathan Brotz performs a traffic stop on a green 1993 Ford F-150 traveling south on Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.(2) The driver flees the traffic stop and attempts to evade police by turning off the truck's lights.(3) The truck fails to yield to oncoming traffic on South Sprigg Street, then drives north in the southbound lane of Fountain Street near the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus.(4) The driver enters the parking lot of a convenience store at 340 S. Sprigg St. at a high rate of speed, then rams into a Cape Girardeau police patrol unit on South Sprigg Street.(5) The suspects cross the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge into Alexander County, Illinois, where the pursuit reaches speeds of up to 90 miles per hour.(6) The passenger fires a shotgun at pursuing police officers on two occasions.(7) The truck loses its driver's side rear tire and spins out in a field near McClure, Illinois. Franz allegedly attempts to disarm a member of the Alexander County Sheriff's Office, but is prevented from doing so and placed under arrest. Cook allegedly attempts to flee on foot, but is apprehended after falling 15 to 20 yards away.

An ordinary stop

In a Jan. 18 probable-cause statement, Cape Girardeau K-9 officer Jonathan Brotz wrote he was traveling south on Kingshighway behind a green 1993 Ford F-150 at approximately 10:55 p.m. near Southern Expressway.

The K-9 officer stated he observed the truck crossing the center line on Kingshighway and ran the vehicle’s license plate. When the license plate returned as registered to a 2005 Dodge, Brotz activated his lights to conduct a traffic stop.

According to the statement, the Ford F-150 came to a stop on Kingshighway north of Silver Springs Road, and the Cape Girardeau officer approached the passenger side of the vehicle.

As he shined his flashlight on the truck, it sped off.

“It turned what they thought was going to be a routine traffic stop to a failure to yield inside the city,” Cape Girardeau police Sgt. Joey Hann said Wednesday.

Brotz remained in pursuit of the vehicle as it continued south on Kingshighway until reaching Silver Springs Road where it made a U-turn and began traveling north on Kingshighway, according to the statement.

Situation escalates

The suspects turned east onto Southern Expressway, then north onto South West End Boulevard, Brotz wrote, where the driver turned off the truck’s lights in an attempt to evade police. At Missouri Highway 74, the suspects turned right and began traveling east toward the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

Into oncoming traffic

An oncoming car traveling south on South Sprigg Street had to “slam on their brakes to avoid a collision” as the truck drove through a red light at the intersection and continued east on Highway 74, Brotz wrote.

The pursuit continued east on Highway 74, and near the Emerson Bridge, the truck turned left and began traveling north onto Fountain Street.

According to the statement, the truck crossed into the southbound lane of Fountain Street while turning and drove into oncoming traffic near the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus.

Reaching the roundabout on Fountain Street, the vehicle then turned west onto Morgan Oak Street and approached South Sprigg Street, Brotz wrote.

The truck entered a parking lot at 340 S. Sprigg St. at “a high rate of speed” and then entered South Sprigg Street going south, according to the statement.

Police vehicle rammed

It was at this time another Cape Girardeau officer who was in the pursuit ended up side-by-side with the suspect vehicle, Brotz stated.

Brotz observed the truck swerve toward the patrol unit, striking it, and causing the officer to lose control of his patrol unit, according to the statement.

At the Cape Girardeau Public Works parking lot Wednesday, Hann showed what damages were done to the police vehicle.

“The suspect vehicle saw the officer and attempted to, I assume, disable the vehicle by ramming it intentionally and then driving the officer back several feet on the roadway,” Hann said.

The officer inside the vehicle was taken to a hospital to be checked out, Hann said, and was released with minor injuries.

Exterior damage was visible along the entire passenger side of the rammed patrol unit Thursday and a portion of the front end was missing.

After ramming the patrol unit, the Ford F-150 continued on South Sprigg Street to Highway 74, where it turned east and crossed the Emerson Bridge into Illinois.

Pursuit enters Alexander County

Cpl. Christopher Simmons of the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office had crossed the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge west into Cape Girardeau at about 11 p.m. after completing a traffic stop when he crossed paths with the pursuit, Simmons wrote in his Alexander County probable-cause statement.

After observing a Ford truck traveling eastbound onto the bridge and failing to yield for multiple Cape Girardeau units, Simmons stated he initiated his emergency lights and sirens and joined in on the pursuit.

The suspect vehicle crossed the state line into Illinois, and responding officers pursued the suspects as they traveled east on Illinois Route 146, reaching speeds of approximately 90 miles an hour, Brotz wrote.

Shots fired

As the pursuit continued east on Route 146, the truck started to slow down between East Cape Girardeau, Illinois, and Illinois Route 3, according to Brotz’s statement.

“I observed the front passenger who was later identified as Cameron Wayne Cook, lean out of the front passenger side door and shoot one round in my direction with a long gun,” Brotz wrote.

After firing a shot at pursuing officers, the suspects crossed the center median of Route 146 and continued traveling east in the westbound lanes, according to Brotz’s statement.

The truck slowed a second time as it reached Route 3 and continued north, while the passenger leaned out the window and fired at pursuing officers a second time.

In the Alexander County probable-cause statement, Simmons also stated hearing multiple shotgun rounds from the passenger side of the truck.

One of the rounds allegedly fired by Cook had struck a spotlight attached to Cape Girardeau patrolman Kyle Evans’ patrol unit, Brotz wrote.

According to the statement, Evans advised over the radio he discharged his service weapon at the suspect vehicle after the second shot was fired at officers.

Cook later said Franz pointed a handgun at his ribs during the pursuit and told him to shoot the shotgun at police, according to the Alexander County probable-cause statement.

“Mr. Cook went on to say he then removed his glasses so he could not see and fired a few rounds at the police cars purposely missing, because he was not trying to hurt nobody,” Simmons wrote.

Vehicle crashes

The truck continued north on Route 3 and turned east onto Williams Lane at a high rate of speed where it lost its back driver-side tire and came to a stop, according to both probable-cause statements.

As he was exiting his patrol unit and drawing his department issued Glock 17, Brotz stated he observed the passenger exit the front passenger side of the vehicle in an attempt to flee.

Brotz stated he approached the truck and saw Franz sitting in the driver’s seat with his hands up. Using his expandable baton, Brotz stated he broke out the front driver side window and began to remove the suspect from the vehicle.

As he slowed down onto the scene, Simmons stated he saw a Cape Girardeau officer chasing the passenger on foot and another officer attempting to detain the driver of the vehicle.

Brotz was assisted by Simmons in detaining the driver, according to their statements, and together the two of them were able to escort Franz out of the vehicle through the driver side window.

With the driver now out of the vehicle, Simmons stated he looked down and saw Franz placing his hand on Simmons’ service weapon and attempting to free it from its holster.

“I then immediately grabbed his wrist and removed his hand from my duty weapon and resecured it in my holster,” Simmons wrote.

According to Brotz’s statement, he stunned Franz by striking him in the back of the head with a flashlight and the two were able to place the suspect in custody.

Cook fell down and gave up after running 15 to 20 yards east, Brotz wrote.

According to Brotz’s statement, the suspect vehicle was towed and a search of the truck revealed a glass smoking pipe with white residue in the center console of the truck, which is commonly used to smoke methamphetamine.

The department is conducting standard after-action investigative protocols, and the two suspects are being held in the Pulaski (Illinois) County Detention Center.

On Thursday, Hann said officers did a great job of re-routing the suspects from areas of high trafficways to areas where there were not as many motorists.

“All the officers involved in it did a great job of backing each other up,” Hann said. “They relied on their training and really did a tremendous job of keeping everybody safe.”

He commended the responding officer’s bravery and focus.

“Even with being shot at, our officers did a terrific job of staying in the chase making sure they were able to catch the suspects and making sure that nobody was injured.”