Suspect in warrant arrest flees, crashes into Cape Girardeau home

The driver of a gray 2019 Nissan Rogue was arrested Tuesday after leading police on a brief pursuit, which ended when the driver crashed into a home at 413 S. Benton St.

A probable-cause statement written by Cape Girardeau officer Jonathan Brotz identified the driver of the vehicle as 23-year-old Colin A. Berry of Cape Girardeau, who had a felony warrant out of Cape Girardeau County for failure to appear on charges of possession of a controlled substance.

Brotz stated the incident began at about 12:10 p.m. in a gravel parking lot at 401 S. Pacific St. when Cape Girardeau police observed Berry in the Nissan compact SUV.

Due to a previous encounter where the suspect fled on foot, Brotz stated he retrieved his patrol K-9 unit, Jango, from his vehicle then approached the suspect vehicle.

Upon the officer’s approach, the suspect vehicle made a half-circle turn in the parking lot and began traveling south out of the parking lot, Brotz stated, at which point he observed Berry driving the vehicle with one passenger in the front seat.

The Nissan entered an alleyway running east and west alongside 401 S. Pacific St. and fled going west through the alleyway toward South Benton Street at a high rate of speed, Brotz wrote.

At the end of the alleyway, the suspect began to turn south onto South Benton Street, according to Brotz, but continued west after seeing another Cape Girardeau patrol unit traveling north toward him.

While attempting to enter another alleyway across the street, the suspect vehicle entered the front yard of 413 S. Benton St. where it collided with the side of the home and came to a stop, according to the statement.

Occupants at the home said they were inside the residence when the crash occurred, but no one inside was injured.

Brotz stated he then observed Berry leaning over the front passenger side of the vehicle and tossing plastic bags from his hand, then re-entering the vehicle and jumping into the back seat.

After placing both occupants of the vehicle into handcuffs, Brotz stated he observed more plastic baggies with unknown substances lying by Berry’s legs. Brotz also stated he observed marijuana sitting on the front driver’s seat and a black digital scale lying on the front driver side floorboard.

According to the statement, the substance in one baggie field tested positive for methamphetamine with a preliminary weight of 3 grams. Brotz stated his training and experience led him to identify another baggie of multiple odd-shaped pills to be ecstasy, which showed a preliminary weight of 2 grams, and the preliminary weight for the marijuana was 5 grams.

The suspected methamphetamine and ecstasy will be sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol crime lab for further testing, according to the statement.

In an interview at the Cape Girardeau jail, Berry advised officers he was in possession of ecstasy during the incident, and disclosed the location of a silver and black handgun located behind the plastic molding of the vehicle’s center console, according to the statement.

Multiple officers then responded to Sperling’s Garage and Wrecker Service at 317 N. Broadview St. where a SCCY CPX-2 9 mm pistol was recovered, Brotz wrote. According to his statement, the pistol had nine bullets in the magazine but did not have a round in the chamber.

A Cape Girardeau County arrest warrant signed by Judge Frank E. Miller on Wednesday charged Berry with one class E felony count of resisting arrest, two class D felony counts of possession of methamphetamine and ecstasy, one class D felony count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and one class E felony of unlawful use of a weapon by possessing a handgun while also possessing a controlled substance.

According to the statement, Berry has prior convictions of felony resisting arrest in Dunklin and Stoddard counties in 2014, and felony resisting arrest and first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle in Cape Girardeau County in 2015.

Berry was on parole for prior convictions in Cape Girardeau County of felony possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest in 2017. He is being held at the Cape Girardeau County Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond.