Cooper County chase and crash started with attempted warrant arrest

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An armed suspect in a Cooper County vehicle theft and police chase is in custody, a Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman says.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol asked drivers Monday morning to avoid Interstate 70 eastbound in Cooper County after a crash involving a stolen vehicle.

The rollover crash was at the 111 mile marker exit ramp, the patrol said on social media. Patrol Cpl. Kyle Green said Boonville police had stopped the vehicle on I-70 after discovering the driver had multiple warrants, Cooper County Sheriff Chris Class said. The suspect drove away from the stop when police tried to arrest him.

The vehicle crashed on the ramp of exit 111 off I-70, overturned multiple times and rolled into a ditch. A few minutes later the armed driver was refusing to get out, Green said.

Class said authorities believed the driver had a gun up to his own head, and that is when they backed off and called for a negotiation team.

The driver got out willingly after about an hour and sheriff's deputies took him into custody. The driver was taken to University Hospital for a routine check of any injuries suffered in the crash.

After the driver was taken into custody officers discovered the gun was a pellet gun.

I-70 intersects Highway 179 at the ramp.

Check back for updates to this developing story.