Joggers testify they were purposefully hit by car

Joggers who were struck by a car during an early morning run in late October told a Cape Girardeau County judge Tuesday there was "no question" that the driver -- whoever it was -- was intentionally trying to run them down.

Four of them, including the three who were hit, took the stand Tuesday at the preliminary hearing of Vincent T. Anderson, the 19-year-old Little Rock, Ark., man charged with stealing a car and then purposefully steering into the runners.

Their testimony, along with that of Cape Girardeau police and the car's owner, was enough for Judge Gary Kamp to rule that there was probable cause to bind Anderson over to circuit court after the hourlong hearing. Anderson next will appear Jan. 7 before Judge William Syler.

Marcus E. Jones

Kamp tossed out one of Anderson's six felonies -- for resisting arrest -- after a police officer testified that when he initially approached Anderson and his co-defendant, he was only going to speak to them.

Vincent still faces five charges -- three counts of first-degree assault for each of the runners hit, tampering with a motor vehicle in the theft of the 1994 Ford Thunderbird and leaving the scene of an accident.

While Anderson's criminal proceedings are still in the early stages, his co-defendant is to be sentenced at 2 p.m. Monday for second-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and resisting arrest. Marcus E. Jones of Cotton Plant, Ark., pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tampering Oct. 29 and was found guilty of resisting arrest by Kamp following a Nov. 21 bench trial in which Jones served as his own counsel. Jones was said to be a passenger in the car.

At Tuesday's hearing, Scott Reynolds made his first appearance as Anderson's lawyer. Anderson was being represented by Patti Tucka of the public defender's office, but switched recently to Reynolds.

The two men were charged Oct. 30, two days after the incident. Police who arrested the men found videos on Jones' cellphone in which they are said to describe the experience as "fun" and compared it to the video game "Grand Theft Auto."

Both men have been in custody at the Cape Girardeau County Jail since the day of their arrest on cash-only bonds -- Anderson's in the amount of $75,000.

At the hearing, Billy Mayfield testified that he left his 1994 Ford Thunderbird running and unlocked as he entered the Kidds gas station on Broadway. He thought nothing, he said, of the two men walking across the street. But when he came outside, his car was gone.

"I only saw them for five seconds," Mayfield said. "I certainly didn't think they were going to steal my car."

Matthew Windeknecht of Jackson, one of the runners who wasn't hit, told the judge that he and the five others saw the vehicle at the intersection of William and South Main streets as they ran by in downtown Cape Girardeau. Windeknecht said he and others even offered a friendly wave to those inside the car for waiting as they passed. He said that's when he got a "good clean look" at the driver.

When prosecutor Angel Woodruff asked if the man Windeknecht saw was in the courtroom, he pointed to Anderson.

After they passed by, Windeknecht said, he heard the car accelerate and it hit three members of the group -- Southeast Missouri State University provost Ron Rosati, Paul Schell and Laura Sheridan.

Sheridan said she heard the engine rev and she looked back to see the car's headlights in her eyes. She rolled over the hood of the car and onto the side of the road, cutting her left calf. She suffered road rash on a hip and strained a few muscles, she said

Rosati said he was struck by the car and then struck by how time slowed down.

"I was face down on the hood, thinking that if I fell off the front end, the car would run me over," he said.

Cape Girardeau police officer Chris Newton, who arrested Anderson, said he came across the men walking on North Henderson Avenue. They matched a description that he'd been given of "two black men, one wearing a hooded shirt."

Reynolds responded that there were probably many people who fit that description.

Newton also testified that Anderson later confessed to stealing the car and hitting the joggers, though he allegedly told Newton that it had been Jones' idea.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

100 Court St., Jackson, MO

William Street and South Main Street, Cape Girardeau, MO

1325 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO