ST. LOUIS — A man is facing charges after police said he stole a Spire pick-up and led police on a bi-state chase Monday afternoon.
James Harris, 27, was charged with tampering with a motor vehicle, stealing $750 or more and resisting arrest.
A Spire spokesperson said the truck was stolen off their lot on the 4100 block of Shrewsbury at around 1 p.m., but the police report said an employee parked the truck near the intersection of Bates and Virginia and left the truck running. The employee said he turned back around to see Harris driving off with the truck.
The Spire employee said he was not injured, but his cell phone was in the truck.
The spokesperson said the truck has GPS tracking. Illinois State Police said Spire tracked the GPS on the truck to Illinois and alerted them.
Police in Marine, Illinois, spotted the stolen truck, tried to pull it over, and the driver took off. They pursued him into Missouri. Police attempted to use spike strips at least once, unsuccessfully, Illinois State Police said.
The pursuit continued over the river and into St. Louis, where police backed off because of traffic congestion, Illinois State Police said.
After driving through St. Louis, he got out of the truck and walked for a short time before being arrested just north of SLU's campus.
Harris was not given bond. He has a prior conviction of attempted stealing of a motor vehicle and two open criminal cases.
