Gun-grab attempt fails as deputies get man

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Robert J. Owens so badly wanted to evade capture Tuesday night he tried to run down Bollinger County Sheriff Terry Wiseman and deputy Richard McCall at road blocks and later grabbed the barrel of McCall's handgun when he was stopped, investigators said.

"I was trying to get him to stop and I had to jump onto my trunk to avoid being hit," Wiseman said, describing his attempted road block. "McCall had to take to the ditch on foot to keep from being run down. He just wouldn't stop."

The pursuit began in Marble Hill when a police officer tried to apprehend Owens for squalling his tires and running stop signs, Wiseman said.

The 40-year-old man from Bonne Terre, Mo., now faces three felony counts and a misdemeanor after leading authorities on a pursuit that ended with a deputy crashing into the car he was driving, which reportedly belongs to Owens' mother.

Hiding out

The suspect drove southbound from Marble Hill on Highway 51. He hid his car behind a row of hay bales at one point before being spotted.

The pursuit reached an escalated level when Owens allegedly drove on the wrong side of the road and passed other vehicles on the shoulder on several narrow county roads.

After driving around two different road blocks on County Road 525 and Route H, Owens was finally stopped on state Highway 34, about 8 miles west of Marble Hill. Deputy Kevin Davis positioned his cruiser alongside the suspect's car and hit it in the left rear quarter panel, causing it to spin into a ditch.

When Owens' car came to a halt, officers got out of their vehicles and rushed over to apprehend him.

"McCall was the first to the vehicle and ordered the suspect out of the vehicle at gunpoint," said deputy Darren Bullard in a probable cause statement. "The suspect refused and grabbed the barrel end of McCall's weapon."

The deputy stepped back from the car and pulled his gun away from Owens' hand and put it in his holster. The officers then pulled the man out of the car, but he continued to fight and grabbed McCall's gun for a second time, Bullard said.

McCall held on to his weapon with one hand and struck the suspect once with his metal baton. Owens then released the gun and was handcuffed, placed under arrest and searched for weapons.

Officers found a glass crack pipe in the car. Wiseman said the suspect appeared to be under the influence of an intoxicant, so blood and urine samples were taken and sent to a crime lab for analysis. Owens was examined by doctors at Southeast Missouri Hospital and released.

Owens is charged with two counts of first degree assault on a law enforcement officer, one count of second degree assault on a law enforcement officer and driving while intoxicated by alcohol or by a combination of alcohol and drugs. Bond was set at $500,000 and Owens remains in custody.

Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Gray said he expects to file several additional charges against Owens, including a felony for resisting arrest by fleeing and creating a substantial risk to others of injury or death and charges for other traffic offenses.

The pursuit involved a Marble Hill police officer, an Advance, Mo., officer, two deputies and the sheriff. The chase's top speed only reached about 60 to 70 mph, Wiseman said.

"No other drivers were affected," Wiseman said. "There was hardly any traffic on the road at that time of night, which was fortunate."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160