Police: Car Stolen in University City Leads Police on Dangerous Chase

A man driving a car stolen in University City drove into oncoming traffic and attempted to hit patrol cars early Wednesday, a Lake Saint Louis Police official reported.

Police officers spotted the white 1999 Ford Taurus at about 1:09 a.m. Wednesday on Veterans Memorial Parkway near Bent Oak Drive in Lake Saint Louis. The officers attempted to pull the car over, but the driver tried to flee.

Police said in a report that the driver, Johnathan M. Joseph of the 10800 block of Lookaway Drive in Glasgow Village, also drove at speeds more than 80 mph and weaved in and out of traffic to escape police.  

“At one point, they left the roadway and re-entered it. They drove into oncoming traffic several times and tried to hit police cars head on,” said Capt. Chris Digiuseppi of Lake Saint Louis Police.

“They drove the wrong way on Veterans Memorial Parkway at one point,” Digiuseppi said. “There wasn’t much traffic at that time, but there was some. Police were trying to warn other drivers and by keeping a spotlight on the vehicle.”

At one point, patrol cars backed off to lessen the danger to other motorists, he said. The car began having engine trouble at Highway K and Veterans Memorial Parkway, but turned onto eastbound Interstate 70.

The subjects stopped at Mid Rivers Mall Drive due to car trouble and fled on foot, but were caught in St. Peters. Joseph and a passenger, Khep-Ra McMillan, of the 1900 block of East O’Bear Avenue in St. Louis city, were both charged Wednesday with car theft and resisting arrest.

The car’s lock had been punched with a screwdriver. Police also found items stolen from other cars in the Taurus, according to the report.