Two men arrested for high-speed chase

Two Cape Girardeau County men were arrested over the weekend for allegedly leading police on a high-speed chase through several Jackson streets and county roads Friday night, said Jackson police Lt. Rodney Barnes.

The pursuit began shortly before 11 p.m., when Jackson officer Scott Eakers saw a 1987 Chevrolet Nova run a stop sign at Georgia and Washington streets.

At first, it appeared the driver was going to pull over on Kate Street, but then he sped off, Barnes said. The driver then led police through the city at high speeds before turning north onto Farmington Road and out into the county.

"They started passing other cars on curves," Barnes said. "That's when we decided to back off, because it's just not worth an accident."

The car was found in a brush-covered field on County Road 439, but the occupants were gone. The Jackson K-9 Unit, officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the sheriff's department assisted in the search but the occupants were able to evade capture.

About an hour later, someone spotted a hitchhiker on Highway 177 later that night and called the sheriff's department, Barnes said. Jason S. Olinde, 28, was found walking along the road by a deputy and taken into custody on warrants out of Kansas City.

The vehicle's driver, Joseph M. Kelley, was contacted by phone after police identified the car as belonging to his wife, Barnes said. He then turned himself in the following day.

Kelley was charged with a felony for resisting arrest and driving while revoked. He remains in jail in lieu of a $10,000 cash-only bond. Olinde has been transported to Kansas City, where he faces a felony charge for passing bad checks and two other misdemeanors, Barnes said.