Poplar Bluff officers nearly hit by car

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Three Poplar Bluff police officers had to take evasive action Thursday to avoid being injured by a vehicle.

The vehicle's driver, Jermaine Young, 30, of Poplar Bluff, was charged Thursday with second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer by Wade Pierce, who is acting as special Butler County prosecuting attorney.

After considering the complaint and probable-cause statement filed with the court, Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth issued a warrant for Young's arrest and set his bond at $250,000 cash or surety.

At about 1 p.m., Poplar Bluff police chief Danny Whiteley, deputy chief Jeff Rolland and Lt. Donnie Trout were assisting officer Scott Phelps with a traffic stop on Cynthia Street. The officers had a Ford Crown Victoria stopped, Rolland said. Two patrol cars, with emergency lights flashing, were parked across the street, he said.

"What made it bad was the street; it's a narrow street in front of the Claudia House, [which is] where the driver was arrested for driving while suspended," Rolland said.

As the officers searched the vehicle, Rolland said, they had the driver- and passenger-side doors open. When Rolland saw a vehicle approaching, he said, he gestured and yelled for the vehicle to stop.

"I saw it keep coming and yelled for Donnie and [Whiteley] to watch out," Rolland said. "As we attempted to flag the vehicle down with both hand gestures and verbal commands, the suspect vehicle sped through us. To avoid being hit, we had to immediately shut the car doors and basically pen ourselves against the stopped vehicle to avoid being struck by the passing vehicle. It passed close enough that the door's side, outside mirror struck Chief Whiteley in the side."

The vehicle, a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica, reportedly continued west. Trout and patrolman Kenny Carpenter began pursuing the vehicle, Carpenter said in his report.

About 100 feet south on North Eighth Street the driver, later identified as Young, and the passenger, identified as Wendell D. Jones, "exited the vehicle with it still in motion and ran south over a fence and through" a backyard, Carpenter said. The vehicle continued unoccupied about 50 feet until coming to rest, Capenter said.

Carpenter said a witness reported seeing the men exit the vehicle and run south. The witness also reported seeing one of them throw something white as they jumped the fence, Carpenter said. "[He] identified the area to me where he saw the item land."

When Carpenter searched the area, he said, he found a "plastic bag containing a large amount of a small, rocklike substance, laying on the ground next to the fence. The rocklike substance appeared to me to be crack cocaine."

Young and Jones, 28, were caught, Carpenter said. Young was arrested on three counts of second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer. He and Jones were arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest by fleeing and possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.