Police: Men chase woman, fire shots, apologize for mistaken ID when mom arrives

Two men are accused of chasing a woman through parts of Cape Girardeau and out into the country on Highway 177, reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour and shooting at her vehicle.

Police said the men threatened the woman when the chase ended, then retreated when her mother arrived and they realized they were chasing the wrong woman.

Gaylen Lamar Osborne, 26, of Cape Girardeau and Antonio Lee Long, 27, of Jackson were arrested Wednesday and charged with unlawful use of a weapon and second-degree assault. Their bonds were set at $50,000 cash or surety.

The victim was leaving a residence on Woodlawn Avenue about 4 a.m. Wednesday after babysitting, according to a probable-cause statement filed by detective Eric Friedrich of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department.

She noticed a gray Chrysler Sebring following her after she turned onto Perryville Road, and it continued following her after she turned onto Bertling Street and Old Sprigg Street Road, Friedrich wrote.

At one point, she thought the vehicle tried to pass her on Old Sprigg Street Road, and that’s when she heard the first shots, according to the statement.

The Sebring followed her onto East Cape Rock Drive and Highway 177, where she heard additional shots and speeded up to more than 100 miles per hour, with the Sebring keeping up through turns onto County Road 651 and Englemann Lane, Friedrich wrote.

When the victim — who already had called her mother while on the road — arrived at her home on a farm, she drove into an adjacent field and blocked the roadway, with the nose of her vehicle facing the Sebring, after Osborne and Long followed her into the field, Friedrich wrote.

Long, who identified himself as the driver of the vehicle in an interview with deputies later, responded by crashing the Sebring into the passenger’s-side corner of the victim’s vehicle.

Long and Osborne exited the Sebring, and one of them beat on the victim’s passenger window, saying, “Looks like we have finally reached a dead end” and “Game’s over for you now,” Friedrich wrote.

The victim’s mother arrived after Osborne and Long exited the vehicle and told the two men she had called the police, Friedrich wrote.

The two men began apologizing, saying they were following the wrong car because they thought a different woman was at the wheel, Friedrich wrote.

Osborne and Long then got back into their vehicle and left the scene, but not before the victim took a picture of the vehicle, including a temporary license plate in the back, according to the statement.

Deputies also found a .45-caliber round at the Englemann Lane address, Friedrich wrote.

With the picture of the temporary plate and descriptions of the two men, deputies later traced the Sebring — complete with damage to the driver’s side door of the vehicle and a temporary plate — back to a driveway in the 1700 block of New Madrid Street in Cape Girardeau, according to the statement.

On the front seat, there was a .45-caliber handgun, Friedrich wrote.

Both men were taken into custody, although they denied the allegations, according to the statement.

During the search, deputies found an unspent .45-caliber bullet in Long’s pocket.

The rounds in the gun were consistent with the round found at the Englemann Lane residence, Friedrich wrote. Along with the gun, deputies found two bags of marijuana and a bag that field-tested positive for methamphetamine in the car, according to the statement.

Interviewed separately, Long and Osborne both admitted to pursuing the victim but denied shooting the .45 handgun, Friedrich wrote.

At first, Long named a different accomplice who shot at the victim but then changed his story to say the shooting was committed by an unknown man, according to the statement.

Long and Osborne have 2014 felony convictions for distribution of a controlled substance.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

1700 block of New Madrid Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.