Indianapolis man charged with 3 felonies after chase that ended in Interstate 70 crash
Matthew Sanders
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
An Indianapolis man was charged Wednesday in western Missouri’s Lafayette County after a chase that ended with a crash on Interstate 70 in Cooper County.
Sawnen Wah, 18, was charged with second-degree assault on a special victim, aggravated fleeing a stop, first-degree vehicle tampering and driving without a license, a misdemeanor.
Wah was driving a Honda Civic that had been reported stolen out of Nebraska during the chase and crash, which brought traffic to a standstill in western Cooper County on Tuesday afternoon. Wah had driven away from a state trooper who tried to stop him at Oak Grove, according to a probable cause statement.
The chase reached high speeds, with Wah going nearly 100 mph after spike strips had deflated his driver’s side tires, the statement says. Wah almost lost control several times, troopers claim.
An Odessa police officer’s hand was injured by a spike strip as Wah drove through it, the statement says..
Wah lost control after hitting another spike strip near the Blackwater exit. The car rolled, and Wah was thrown from the vehicle. He was taken to University Hospital to be treated for his injuries, then taken to the Lafayette County Jail after his release late Tuesday, the statement says.
The crash stopped traffic temporarily in both directions.