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Video: Video: Chase ended at hotel
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Video: Raw video: Interview with Sheriff Jim Arnott after chase
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- 2500 North Ramsey Avenue, Springfield, MO 65803, USA
- James River Freeway, Springfield, MO, USA
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Extended Stay America
1333 East Kingsley Street, Springfield, MO 65804, USA
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A chase that snaked across Springfield on Thursday afternoon ended when law enforcement officers arrested the driver at a hotel. The sheriff says the chase reached speeds as high as 70mph.
Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott says the chase began when his deputies tried to serve a felony arrest warrant in the 2500 block of North Ramsey Avenue. Michael Riemer, 25, took off after the attempted traffic stop and led deputies throughout the city. Arnott said Riemer is also wanted for questioning about a homicide in Greene County, which he wouldn't identify.
"It’s one of those deals that, you know, as I said earlier, you have to weigh out the importance of it, and here’s an important case, a homicide that the subject has a reason to run. It’s one of those things that we weighed out the odds, plus the felony warrant. We felt we needed to get him in custody. The other thing -- he may be under the influence of something, which is why he’s making decisions like he is."
Arnott said Riemer sideswiped two vehicles during the chase when he squeezed through an opening between them on National Avenue near James River Freeway.
The man ran from his car at the Extended Stay America, 1333 E. Kingsley St. He left a white tennis shoe in the parking lot as he fled. A deputy chased him inside the hotel and caught him in a stairwell, where the deputy used his electric stun gun and took him into custody.
A woman who was at the hotel is being questioned as well, Arnott said. He could not confirm her connection to Riemer.
Online court records show Riemer, who lives in an apartment along South National near where he was arrested, was charged in September for being a persistent DWI offender after being arrested by Springfield police in July. He failed to show up for court hearings in January and a judge issued a warrant for his arrrest.
The chase snaked its way through several major roads in and around Springfield. Riemer zig-zagged through neighborhoods on both sides of the James River Freeway around Campbell and National avenues. At one point, he traveled westbound in the eastbound lanes of James River Freeway (U.S. 60) between National and Campbell. He also drove northbound in the southbound lanes of National at one point.
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Chris Brewer, Jerrod McCully, Gene Hartley and Doug Owen contributed to this report.
