One arrested after high speed pursuit through two counties

A 28-year-old Poplar Bluff man was taken into custody Tuesday following a high-speed chase through the eastern Butler County, which ended on One Mile Road in Stoddard County.

Kory Paul was booked on charges of stealing a motor vehicle, resisting arrest by fleeing – creating substantial risk of serious injury or death, careless and imprudent driving, speeding and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. Paul was lodged in the Butler County jail.

According to reports by Poplar Bluff Police Capt. David Sutton, at 7:11 a.m. Hanna Halcumb reported her vehicle had been stolen from the parking lot at 2301 Eugene Blvd. At 8:46 a.m., Halcumb reported she saw her vehicle southbound in the 500 block of North Westwood Boulevard.

Responding officers saw the stolen vehicle, and initiated a traffic stop, Sutton said. The driver refused to stop, and officers pursued the vehicle into Stoddard County.

According to information relayed by dispatchers at the time of the chase included that it reached speeds of up to 100 miles an hour and that the driver tried to ram law enforcement vehicles near the Rombauer overpass. Efforts were also made to set spike strips near Dudley, but the pursuit proceeded too quickly to do so safely, according to initial reports.