Man charged after officer says he was dragged several feet by car

A man dragged a Cape Girardeau police officer from the driver’s-side window of a Pontiac in an attempt to escape a traffic stop, police said.

The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney’s office charged Austin Tyler Burton, 19, of Cape Girardeau with assault on a law-enforcement officer and resisting lawful detention.

The prosecuting attorney’s office filed a warrant for Burton on Wednesday, and he was in Cape Girardeau County Jail on Thursday, with his bond set at $25,000 cash only.

Burton had posted a $20,000 bond Nov. 28 on a second-degree domestic assault charge, also in Cape Girardeau.

Officer Kyle Evans stopped Burton about 11 p.m. Dec. 10 in the Kmart parking lot on Independence Street because the Pontiac Grand Prix he was driving did not have a rear license plate, according to a probable-cause statement filed by Evans.

The car was registered to a Scott City man, Evans wrote. When Evans approached, he smelled a strong odor of marijuana from inside the vehicle, according to the statement.

Evans asked Burton to exit the vehicle, and Burton responded with, “Not this again; are you going to search my vehicle?” and added, “I’m trying to get the weed smell out,” according to the statement.

Evans asked Burton a second time to exit the Pontiac, and then he placed his left hand on Burton’s shoulder in “an attempt to remove him,” Evans wrote.

Burton quickly put the car in drive and drove 3 to 6 feet with Evans’ arm inside the vehicle, according to the statement. Evans was dragged by the vehicle until his right arm was struck, and Burton continued west on Independence Street, Evans wrote.

Evans chased Burton through a roundabout and north on Silver Springs Road but lost sight of him when Burton ran a stop sign at Silver Springs Road and Themis Street and then turned west onto Spruce Street, according to the statement.

Police located the driverless Grand Prix in the 3000 block of Mimosa Street, complete with a .22-caliber handgun, a bottle containing nine Xanax pills and a black bandanna that had a strong odor of marijuana, Evans wrote.

Cape Girardeau had 14 reports of assault on a law-enforcement officer in 2016, according to uniform crime reporting data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

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