Incident begins at Platte City, ends in St. Joseph
Six felony criminal counts have been filed against a Kansas City man after a wild night of car jackings and police pursuits in Platte City and north into St. Joseph.
The suspect eventually ended up on a roof of a building in St. Joseph, where he finally surrendered after an hours-long standoff with officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Buchanan County and the St. Joseph Police Department.
Antoine Anderson, age 32, is in the Platte County Jail charged with two counts of vehicle hijacking, two counts of armed criminal action, one count of stealing and one count of resisting arrest. He is being held without bond.
It all began around 12:40 a.m. last Wednesday, July 14 when Platte City officers heard a call that a car had just rammed the front door to the Trex Mart on Hwy. 92 in Tracy. Platte City police officers located the car in the area of Casey’s General Store in Platte City and initiated a traffic stop, but the car refused to yield. Officers lost sight of the vehicle in the area of the Hamptons Subdivision on Hampton Drive near the post office.
A few minutes later a Platte County deputy spotted the car at the QuikTrip in Platte City and the car again refused to stop. Deputies and officers, including the highway patrol, pursued the car east on Hwy. 92. Eventually the car turned around and traveled back west on Hwy. 92, before the driver exited the vehicle and ran into a corn field on the north side of Hwy. 92. Officers were unable to locate the driver.
Then officers received a call that two robberies had occurred at the QuikTrip in Platte City and a suspect had stolen a Ryder box truck and left the QT parking lot, traveling west on Hwy. 92.
Police were told by a QT patron that as he was pumping gas he noticed a black man had entered his vehicle and was in the driver’s seat. The suspect had found a handgun in the car, pointed it at the car’s owner and asked “Where’s the (expletive) keys?” According to court documents, the man told the suspect the keys were in the car and when the suspect turned to look, the man ran away from the car. The suspect then got out of the vehicle and ran toward the rear of the QuikTrip, taking the handgun and a cell phone.
The driver of a Ryder truck told police he was returning from inside the QT when he noticed the suspect in the truck. The man confronted the suspect, who then pointed a handgun at the man and demanded keys to the truck. The man complied and the suspect left in the Ryder truck.
Officers located the Ryder truck headed eastbound on Hwy. 92 but the truck refused to stop and a chase ensued. The truck was pursued to I-29, where it turned and went onto northbound Interstate 29, with the highway patrol, Platte County and Platte City officers in pursuit.
Police said during the pursuit the truck was swerving all over the roadway. Platte City and Platte County officers continued the pursuit until it crossed over to Buchanan County, where Buchanan County deputies and the highway patrol continued the chase.
At about 9:24 a.m., Platte City police contacted a person with information about the happenings in the QT parking lot that had occurred hours before. A man said he saw a black male walking up Kentucky Ave. from Hwy. 92 toward the front of the store. The witness saw the suspect get into a car at the gas pumps and be confronted by the owner of the car. The witness said as he was checking to see if the other driver needed assistance, the suspect walked past him and ran into the witness’s semi and got into the truck.
The witness said he followed the suspect and when he got to the door of the truck the suspect’s foot was still hanging out, and the witness slammed the door on the suspect’s foot. The witness told police the suspect pointed a handgun at him and the witness “heard a click when the suspect pulled the trigger.” The witness said he then backed away and allowed the suspect to do what he wanted. The suspect was unable to get the semi to move due to not releasing the air brakes, the witness told police. The suspect then got out of the semi and went to the Ryder box truck and drove away, according to court documents.
Later that day local police were informed that highway patrol, Buchanan County and St. Joseph police were in a standoff with suspect Anderson in St. Joseph. Authorities said Anderson had high-centered the Ryder truck while being pursued and ran from it, climbed on the roof of a building and created a standoff with police. At around 3 p.m. that day local police were told Anderson had given up and had been taken into custody. Police say the handgun Anderson is accused of stealing from one of the vehicles in Platte City was found at the scene where he was taken into custody.
The owner of the Ryder truck allegedly stolen by Anderson at the QuikTrip was carrying Amazon products valued at around $50,000, according to the police report.
According to the probable cause statement, in an interview with Platte County and Platte City authorities, Anderson stated that he had met up with a guy that he knew as T and they smoked some meth together. T got Anderson to go to Columbia, Mo. with him where they met up with some other people. Anderson told police T then got Anderson to smoke a combination of meth and PCP and Anderson told police he did not remember anything until he woke up on the roof in St. Joseph with police surrounding him.
A preliminary hearing in Anderson’s court case is currently scheduled for Aug. 10.