Editor’s Note: This version updates the story with details about the break-in and charges.
Following a 4 1/2-hour manhunt, Warrensburg Police found and arrested a man who broke into a Warrensburg residence believing him to be the man who fled from a traffic stop earlier Tuesday morning.
Chief Rich Lockhart said the man was found in the 1500 block of Park Avenue, north of the Arwood’s furniture store, after the homeowner said she found a liquor bottle in a closet and called the police. She went outside and believed someone was in the home. Officers responded within a few minutes and apprehended the suspect who was hiding in a utility closet.
Lockhart said in a phone interview that both suspects are in custody and the WPD will be seeking charges of burglary for the man found in the home but could not comment on any other charges.
Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers said at around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, a trooper attempted to stop a white SUV on westbound U.S. Highway 50 for reckless driving. The SUV did not stop and instead pulled off the highway onto a side road where it immediately crashed into a utility pole.
Two men then emerged from the vehicle. One man was arrested at the scene, and the other man fled on foot. Trooper Josh Conrad said they found a controlled substance and a firearm in the vehicle.
Sgt. Bill Lowe, public information officer for the Missouri State Highway Patrol, said investigators don’t yet know what the controlled substance is.
Lowe said the license plates on the SUV were stolen, but investigators don’t yet know if the vehicle is also stolen.
Both men, whose identities have not yet been released, were arrested and taken to the Johnson County Jail for booking.
No injuries have been reported and it is unclear who was driving the vehicle.
The Warrensburg R-VI School District locked down school buildings during the manhunt. That lockdown was lifted around 2:30 p.m.