One jailed after car chase that ended with crash, injured teen

MOREHOUSE, Mo. — A Morehouse man faces felony charges after a police chase through several counties that resulted in a crash and seriously injured a teenager.

Justin A. Mattison, 18, is charged with first-degree assault, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and resisting/interfering with the arrest for a felony, according to online court records.

At 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, Morehouse police chief Jackie Hays received a call advising Mattison was driving up and down Levee Road in a gray passenger car with a 14-year-old girl, according to probable-cause statement Hays filed in the case.

Hays wrote he knew Mattison was a registered sex offender and was on probation with the condition of no contact with any non-related girls younger than 16.

Hays found a vehicle that matched the call’s description. He said he saw a 14-year-old girl in Mattison’s vehicle Mattison was not related to. Hays pulled Mattison over, and the girl was returned to her home.

Mattison was reminded of the condition of his probation. Hays told Mattison he would submit a report to the New Madrid County prosecuting attorney.

At 8:47 p.m., Hays said he received a call from the girl’s mother, saying the 14-year-old ran out the home’s back door and the girl was going to meet Mattison on U.S. 60, according to the probable-cause statement.

Hays located the vehicle and tried to pull it over. He said Mattison failed to yield and led officers on a chase from Morehouse to Dexter, Bloomfield and Circle City.

According to Hays, the vehicle approached 110 miles per hour during the chase. Mattison avoided several attempts to stop him, including spike strips at U.S. 60 and Route FF, a tractor-trailer blocking the road east of Route FF and several patrol cars near Highway 114, the statement said.

As Mattison’s vehicle proceeded west on Highway 114, it went into the ditch and a small river. The car hit an embankment and overturned, with the roof of the car submerged under water, Hays stated.

Hays helped the girl to the river bank and helped Mattison, who was walking around the car, and arrested him.

Mattison and the girl were taken to a Cape Girardeau hospital. The girl later was taken to a St. Louis hospital with numerous broken bones, including in her back tailbone and collar bone, Hays stated.

Mattison is being held in the Pemiscot County Jail with bond set at $75,000 cash with a condition he have no contact with the victim.

Pertinent address:

Morehouse, Mo.