ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A man who fled from police after an attempted traffic stop on Wednesday now faces multiple criminal charges, a written statement from the St. Louis County Police Department said Friday.
Police say Willshon Warren, a 24-year-old University City man, was the man behind the wheel of a BMW that led officers on a dangerous, high-speed chase in St. Louis County Wednesday evening. He was being held on $150,000 cash only, no 10%, bond.
According to the statement, detectives with St. Louis County Police Department's Anti-Gang Unit saw a gray BMW X3 weaving between lanes without signaling while headed north on Hanley Road near Interstate Highway 270.
The detectives tried to stop the X3 in Florissant, near St. Ferdinand and St. Francois streets, but the driver, later identified as Warren, made a U-turn in the middle of the roadway and fled from the traffic stop at a high rate of speed.
Fleeing from the police, Warren almost struck another car near St. Ferdinand Street and Washington Street, according to the statement. The detectives kept the X3 in their sights as the car traveled east on Interstate 270 and took an exit to New Halls Ferry Road.
A detective deployed a tire-spike strip, deflating one of the X3's rear tires and partially disabling the BMW, but the driver kept going, the statement said.
That's when the driver entered the busy parking lot of a nearby Home Depot, driving directly in front of the store — near the entrance— at speeds estimated to be greater than 50 mph, the statement said.
Warren drove the X3 back onto Interstate 270 for another 3 miles before leaving the highway at Lilac Avenue, passing several stop signs without stopping.
A second detective deployed a second tire-spike strip near Larimore Road and Rhea Avenue, flattening the X3's remaining three tires. Warren still drove the car to the dead end in the 1200 block of Senate Avenue, abandoning the car as it was it still moving.
Despite fleeing on foot, Warren could not get away from police. Officers searching the car found a loaded .45 caliber handgun in the center console, police said. They also found an unloaded AK-47-style pistol rifle in the back seat and a rifle magazine in the trunk.
"During a post Miranda interview, the defendant stated that he didn't know why he fled," the statement said. "He stated that he knew he was getting charged with resisting arrest and told police, 'Ya'll did ya'll job.'"
Warren faces the following charges:
- Resisting arrest by fleeing – creating a substantial risk of serious injury or death,
- Unlawful possession of a firearm,
- Resisting with arrest for a felony, and
- Property damage second degree.
St. Louis County Police Department's Bureau of Drug Enforcement has been assigned to lead the investigation.
