Man charged after stolen pickup chase
A Lee’s Summit man fled from Independence police Tuesday morning in a stolen truck, starting a pursuit that ended just across the state line, a couple blocks from the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Police say the driver passed others on both shoulders and exceeded 100 mph several times, including 110 mph when he passed Sterling Avenue on westbound Interstate 70 in heavy traffic.
Gene Madden, 39, faces felony charges of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and resisting a lawful stop and creating a substantial risk of injury or death to others. Prosecutors requested a bond of $100,000.
According to court and Independence police records, Kansas City police told Independence police they had followed a possible stolen vehicle into Independence. The suspect vehicle – a white Ford F-350 pickup truck reported stolen in Prairie Village – had stopped at the Missouri Probation and Parole Office at 42nd Street and Noland Road around 9 a.m.
The driver dropped off a woman there and stayed in the truck, according to police. Officers tried to block the truck in, but he rammed an IPD vehicle and hit another car as he drove off. He headed north on Noland and then west on I-70 into what police said was heavy traffic.
Once the pursuit reached Kansas City, the primary lead went to Kansas City police, and the Kansas Highway Patrol took over when the the pickup crossed the state line. The chase went along Interstate 635 and on Metcalf – at 100 mph at times – and at least once the driver went onto the grassy median and then back onto the road. In a neighborhood west of KU Med, in the 3800 block of Lloyd Street, he drove off an embankment and into a wooded area and ran off.
No injuries were reported during the pursuit, though police said he swerved through heavy traffic several times near or above 100 mph and drove through two construction zones.
Officers from several jurisdictions quickly set up a perimeter to begin a search for the man. He was taken into custody late Tuesday afternoon.
A subsequent investigation revealed the man’s identity, and a warrant listing subsequent charges is being sought, IPD spokesman Tom Gentry said.