Illinois man charged in carjacking, chase

Charges were filed early Saturday against an Illinois man accused in a purse-snatching and who led police on a high-speed chase through town during rush hour Friday.

According to the arrest warrant, Robert W. Wiley, 24, of Liberty, Ill., faces two counts of second-degree robbery, one count of assaulting a police officer and two counts of resisting arrest.

The robbery and assault counts are felony charges.

Witnesses said Wiley, armed with a knife, ran up behind Shirley Drury Friday and tried to steal her purse in the JCPenney parking lot. When he got the purse, he dropped the knife and fled in his own car.

Police said Wiley was doomed by witnesses with a cell phone, who helped officers pinpoint his location.

The charge of assaulting a police officer stems from an incident halfway through the chase.

Police said Wiley wrecked his own car on a median on Bloomfield Road and pulled Peggy McKee out of her Blazer before stealing it.

When a patrolman drew his weapon and ordered Wiley to stop, he took off in the Blazer into the oncoming lane of traffic, directly toward a patrol car driven by Daryl Ferris, who was forced off the road to avoid being hit.

After another high-speed chase, Wiley wrecked McKee's vehicle when he pulled out in front of a Kelley Transportation taxi van and was broadsided, police said.

He continued to flee on foot, but was finally caught behind a maintenance building on Southeast Missouri State University campus.

Police said once Wiley was in custody, they found out he is on parole in Illinois for arson. Wiley is in Cape Girardeau County Jail in lieu of a $150,000 bond.