Midnight Chase Ends In Arrest

From Staff Reports

Late Tuesday night, just before midnight local time, several Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff’s deputies closed a high-speed police chase on I-55 southbound from mile-marker 161 to 141.

Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff’s Department personnel initially clocked the vehicle going 91 miles per hour in a 70 MPH zone at the 151-mile marker.

According to the probable cause statement, the vehicle, a 2014 Buick Enclave, initially pulled over at the 154-mile marker, but took off when deputies approached the car.

The driver, later identified as  26-year-old Justin C. Johnson of Nesbit,Miss., failed to yield to emergency equipment and continued to flee. His speeds reached 113 miles per hour. He failed to stay in one lane and failed to stop at the Route Y and I-55 intersection stop sign.

At the 157-mile marker, he began traveling southbound on I-55, still at a high rate of speed

Spikes were deployed by Sergeant J.L. Hutchings with the sheriff’s office at the 147-mile marker. The vehicle finally stopped at the 140-mile marker.

Johnson, who was not wearing his seat belt, was arrested at 11:57 p.m. Missouri Highway Patrol Troop C advised that the Buick had been reported stolen by the Shelby County, Tenn. Sheriff’s Office in October 2021.

After deputies smelled marijuana, the vehicle was searched and  a firearm (a Taurus 9-mm pistol with six rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber was fond under the driver’s seat.