Dalton Aaron Johnson has been charged with a class B felony of kidnapping in the first degree and a class E felony of Resisting Arrest/Detention/Stop By Fleeing - Creating A Substantial Risk following a chase involving local authorities earlier this month.
According to the probable cause statement from Rogersville Police Department, the incident occurred on May 6 when an officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a speeding vehicle. The vehicle, however, continued going causing the officer to request backup. The pursuit went from Rogersville to Seymour and finally ended in Fordland when the vehicle drove over a spike strip.
Authorities were able to question the driver and a passenger. The passenger was 17 and explained that they and Johnson were in Arkansas, waiting for Johnson’s brother.
While waiting, Johnson wanted to visit a gas station, so the passenger let him drive. Once Johnson started driving, however, he never stopped. The passenger tried asking Johnson where they were going and to stop multiple times. Johnson instead drove faster, telling the passenger everything would be fine, and refused to stop. The passenger attempted to call for help, but Johnson took their phone, and they were scared to jump out of the speeding vehicle.
When authorities questioned Johnson, he confirmed the passenger did ask to be let out, and he refused. Johnson also claimed he was scared the whole time, which was why once he started to drive, he did not stop.
Johnson is in custody and was arraigned on Tuesday, May 30. He is set to appear before Judge Justin Evans for a preliminary hearing on June 14. If he is convicted, Johnson could face one to four years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, a special one-year term in county jail, a fine up to $10,000, or a combination of jail time and fine as punishment for the Class E felony and five to fifteen years in the MoDOC as punishment for the Class B felony.
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