Hannibal man leads authorities on chase

HANNIBAL, Mo. -- A 24-year-old man fleeing police apparently had his choice of getaway cars.

Police said he stole six cars and crashed or abandoned them before they took him into custody. Mark D. O'Brien of Hannibal was arrested and charged Friday with violating his probation from a previous auto-theft offense.

The chase began in Hannibal in northeastern Missouri and ended with O'Brien's arrest in neighboring Ralls County, when he lost control of the sixth stolen vehicle, Hannibal Police Lt. Michael Lawzano said.

Police said the car thefts started about 1 p.m. Friday when a Ford Tempo was stolen from outside an optical shop and abandoned behind another store. From there, they alleged, O'Brien picked out a GMC pickup truck, which was abandoned on an overpass.

Next, a Chevrolet Lumina was swiped near a funeral home. Officers on a traffic stop attempted to flag down the car.

A pursuit began and officers cornered the car on a dead-end street. The suspect fled on foot.

Authorities said O'Brien next stole a Chevrolet Astro van and left the city of Hannibal. They said he drove it to the outer road of U.S. 61 south of New London, about 10 miles from Hannibal, where it became disabled.

He left it and stole a Saturn car nearby, and as he was leaving the area he ran into the van that he had abandoned. The Saturn got stuck off the road and he abandoned it, too, authorites said. The suspect then stole a gray Dodge flatbed truck from nearby.

Officers began a pursuit and followed the vehicle into Ralls County. The suspect turned off U.S. 61 onto New London Gravel Road and lost control of his vehicle, which allowed the officers to block him and take him into custody.

O'Brien was taken to Marion County Jail in Palmyra.