Metro-east pair faces drug, fleeing charges in connection with bi-state chase
A Waterloo man and a Belleville woman have been charged in connection with a high-speed police chase through the St. Louis region on Monday afternoon.
Dustin E. Schlemmer, 31, and Maudarie D. Forbes, 29, were charged in Monroe County Court on Tuesday, according to a news release from Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Justin Biggs. Schlemmer faces two counts of aggravated fleeing and eluding and Forbes faces one count of unlawful possession of a controlled susbtance.
The chase began in Columbia and went though Dupo, where a FOX 2 helicopter captured its path through St. Louis and into Franklin County, Missouri, where the two eventually crashed and were arrested.
Monroe County Sheriff Neal Rohlfing said earlier Tuesday that the chase started at 3:14 p.m. when members of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department’s Aggressive Criminal Enforcement Unit observed a car driving northbound on Illinois 3 at EE Road near the YMCA in Columbia. When police ran the license plates through the record system, they concluded the plates did not match the registered vehicle.
Sheriff’s deputies attempted to make a traffic stop but the driver did not comply, Rohlfing said. At the time of the attempted traffic stop, Forbes was driving. Schlemmer took the wheel during the course of the chase, police said.
During the pursuit, Rohlfing said, the two threw objects, which police suspect were narcotics, out of the car windows. Their car rammed a Monroe County Sheriff’s Department vehicle.
The pair also attempted to ram several other squad cars from numerous police agencies during the pursuit and struck at least one other squad car, Rohlfing said.
After a pursuit that lasted more than an hour, the car crashed into a concrete curb and the occupants were taken into custody in Union, Missouri, about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis. They were transported to a hospital, where they were evaluated and released.
Narcotics were found during the arrest, Biggs said. Both Schlemmer and Forbes also had outstanding felony warrants out for their arrest.
Schlemmer had four outstanding felony warrants, Biggs said. One was for a charge of possession of methamphetamine from an incident that occurred on June 24 in Monroe County, and two were for failing to appear in two other drug-related cases. The final warrant was out of St. Clair County. His bond was set at $500,000.
Forbes was wanted in connection with felony drug charges in Missouri, Biggs said. Her bond has been set at $20,000.
According to Biggs’ release, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department is assisting multiple Missouri agencies for possible additional charges that occurred in Missouri, including when a squad car was struck. No law enforcement officers or citizens were injured during the incident.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 6:47 PM.
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