LOUSY DRIVERS TEST PATIENCE OF MISSOURI TROOPERS

The moon may be waning, but Missouri Highway Patrol officers are seeing drivers' bad behavior waxing.

"The way it was on Wednesday, we were asking ourselves whether there was supposed to be a full moon," Lt. Jim Neil said. "We're hoping things improve going into the weekend."

An intoxicated man was pulled off Interstate 55 driving 95 miles an hour near Perryville late Wednesday, while another driver who provoked several others to call about road rage was not apprehended, Neil said.

But a Mississippi man tested troopers' patience when he allegedly drove past Miner on Interstate 55 at more than 100 mph Wednesday morning.

"We were just blessed that there wasn't that much traffic at that time," the trooper said.

Police give this report:

Preston Nail, 36, was driving his 1983 Mercury Caprice north about 11 a.m. when a Miner police officer traveling in an unmarked car with a K-9 saw him pass. The off-duty officer was on his way to Cape Girardeau for training, so he continued to follow Nail and reported him to Scott City police.

When he reached Scott City, officers checked Nail's speed and attempted to stop him, but he kept driving.

"We don't make a habit of using patrol cars to block the road because of the liability involved," Neil said.

As Nail reached the exit for Route K, officers from the Highway Patrol and three cars from the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department got behind Nail and followed him with lights and sirens blaring.

As the procession neared Fruitland, Nail slowed to 45 miles an hour while following a tractor-trailer through the single lane left open during construction. He then hit the gas and swung around the truck on the shoulder of the road. At that point, he was going over 129 miles an hour.

Highway Patrol officers based in Kirkwood had been alerted of the northbound speeder. They were waiting to get Nail near the Perry and Cape Girardeau county line with a hollow spike strip.

The strips, which have been used by Missouri law enforcement for the past five years, have proved very effective, Neil said. Rather than causing tires to blow out and spin out of control, the hollow spikes permit tire pressure to gradually decrease.

The troopers pulled the 16-foot strip across the road just as Nail's car approached. This brought the Caprice to a safe, slow stop, Neil said.

When officers approached the car, Nail refused to get out. Troopers decided to break the driver's window, and after a struggle were able to arrest Nail.

A knife and .22-caliber rifle were found in the car, but since they were not readily accessible, no weapons charges were sought, Neil said.

"They did not present any threat to officers," he said.

Nail was charged with driving 120 mph in a 70-mph speed zone, resisting arrest by fleeing and fighting and careless and imprudent driving. He is being held in Cape Girardeau County jail on a $7,500 bond.