Man faces several charges after police chase, crash

A Cape Girardeau man crashed his 2006 Dodge Challenger into a utility pole and a home’s front porch Saturday after a chase with Cape Girardeau police for just over a mile, police said.

The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Jajuan D. Bell, 27, with unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting a lawful stop and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance.

After the initial impact severed the utility pole, the car smashed into the front porch of a residence on South Benton Street and overturned, police said. The man then fled from police on foot but soon was apprehended.

Officer Orrin Hawkins tried to stop Bell’s vehicle about 2:40 a.m. near South Sprigg Street and Jefferson Avenue because Bell was driving erratically at excessive speeds, Hawkins wrote in a probable-cause statement filed in the case.

Bell lost control of his vehicle, hit the utility pole and struck a porch in the 400 block of South Benton Street, Hawkins wrote.

Hawkins said Bell ran south from the vehicle after the crash and later was captured by other Cape Girardeau officers, according to the statement.

Bell had two bags of marijuana in his pockets, Hawkins wrote. Officers also found a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol that had been stolen, Hawkins wrote.

Bell pleaded guilty to felony possession of a firearm in May 2014, Hawkins wrote.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

400 block of South Benton Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.