Recent death on I-55 highlights vague vagrant policies

SIKESTON, Mo. — It doesn't happen on a daily basis, but coming into contact with individuals wandering along highways is a situation local law enforcement officials face often.

"Our attitude is if they need some type of care, somehow we will get them that care — and we don't want them to be a danger to themselves or someone else," said Lt. Jim McNiell, commander of Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop E Service Center in Sikeston.

McNiell said the Patrol has an unwritten policy regarding vagrancy.

"Occasionally, we get calls of people laying on the side of the road so we go and check their well being," McNiell said. "Several times we find these people to be intoxicated."

If vagrants are intoxicated, patrol officers put them on a 12-hour hold to protect their well being and they're monitored in jail until they're OK, McNiell said.

Individuals who are peacefully traveling along the side of the road and are not intoxicated, are allowed to walk down the shoulder of road, McNiell said.

"If we find someone out on the shoulder of the right of way or road, and they haven't eaten, we'll contact the ministerial alliance for assistance," McNiell said.

The Scott County Sheriff's Department's most recent encounter with a vagrant occurred on June 21 when a deputy came upon a Sikeston man walking in the road. The officer stopped to check the man's well being, Walter said. When asked where he was going, the man told the officer he was heading to Arkansas, Walter said.

"He asked [the officer] for a ride to a truck stop on Highway 80. I think it was Flying J [Travel Plaza Truck Stop in Matthews]," Walter said.

Then at about 10:45 p.m., the man, who was later identified as Steven A. Simelton, was walking in the passing lane of Interstate 55 in New Madrid County, Mo., where he was struck and killed by a vehicle traveling south, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports.

Sometimes those wandering the highways and interstates are hitchhiking, and in Missouri, there's no law against that, McNiell said.

"We'll apprehend people wanted by authorities, but at the same time, we're making sure they're not a threat to people who may pick them up," Mc-Niell said.

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said if vagrants aren't wanted on a warrant, there's not a whole lot an officer can do, Walter said.

"A lot of times, that's the way they go across the country. If you talk to them, they will tell you, 'This is how I get across,'" Walter said.

Many vagrants are just trying to get from point A to point B, Walter said.

"If we give somebody a ride, we will take them somewhere. We won't dump them out on the road," Walter said.

If a mental illness is suspected, officers will refer them to the appropriate services, Walter said.

"We're not psychiatrists and are pretty limited on what we can do," Walter said.

Sikeston Department of Public Safety Capt. John Martin said vagrancy isn't too much of an issue in Sikeston. He said the department handles no more than five or six vagrants a month.

"When we do receive a report, we go check them out and see if they need any assistance. We find them the proper services they may need. Sometimes people will walk into the station and say they're stranded and homeless, and we try to refer them to whoever can help."

There is no vagrancy ordinance in Sikeston anymore. It was abolished and repealed in January 1979. To his knowledge, the ordinance was never used, Martin said.

Like the Patrol and other county and city agencies, Mississippi County Sheriff's Department officers make contact with people wandering through the county and offer assistance those needing it, said Chief Deputy Charlie Marcum.

We contact the local churches and place them in a motel (if needed), Marcum said. "Some of our deputies have taken money out of their own pockets to help them get a meal until they can make arrangements to catch a ride."

Citing liability concerns, Marcum said: "We're not a taxi service."

Marcum estimated the county assists about five vagrants in a year.

McNiell cautioned motorists who pick up or offer help to vagrants to very careful.

"There are a lot of risks involved in picking up hitchhikers," McNiell said. He recalled an incident in the 1980s when he was working in Texas County, Mo., and a hitchhiker pulled a knife on and slashed the motorist who picked him up.

If motorists spot someone distressed on the shoulder of road, McNiell said the safest help they can provide is to dial star 55 on their cell phones and make a report to the Patrol.