A Holts Summit man has been charged with multiple felonies after he allegedly burglarized a home and later led police on a pursuit that resulted in a tossed gun being found the next day in a residential neighborhood yard, according to Jefferson City police.
Damien M. Rotter, 23, allegedly burglarized a home at 12:13 p.m. April 18 in the 200 block of South Bluff Street in Jefferson City, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement.
An eyewitness who lives in the area called the police to report a burglary was in progress.
Meanwhile, the homeowner arrived to find a Nissan Maxima with unknown Nebraska registration parked in his garage. The man blocked the Maxima in with his own vehicle, but Rotter allegedly used the Maxima to ram the victim's car - which caused more than $3,300 in damage to the man's vehicle while he was inside it.
Rotter then drove through the victim's yard to escape.
Rotter fled in the Maxima westbound on East McCarty Street, with the homeowner following in his car, according to police reports. The victim lost sight of the suspect as he turned down Wall Way headed back eastbound, but a video surveillance camera at a nearby business captured both vehicles in the area around the time of the original call for police to respond.
The victim told police he was missing a chop saw, loppers and a 16-inch bar chainsaw.
The Maxima was later found in the 200 block of Pierce Street, with the stolen items in plain view in the back seat, and the vehicle was towed to JCPD.
At about 10:25 p.m. April 18, a JCPD officer spotted an Acura Integra driving east on Missouri Boulevard and recognized the vehicle as one used by Rotter to move around the city, according to another JCPD probable cause statement.
Rotter had an outstanding warrant for being a parole absconder who had failed to report to his parole officer in Fulton, and the police had also received information that Rotter possessed a Glock .40-caliber handgun and a bulletproof vest, according to the probable cause statement.
The officer attempted to stop the vehicle - it had broken taillights - but the vehicle accelerated and fled from the stop near the intersection of Buena Vista and Edmonds streets.
The officer chased the Integra down Dulle Street and onto Woodcliff Drive, where the car entered onto Southwest Boulevard at a high speed, lost control and crashed.
Rotter attempted to flee on foot but was caught by the officer's police dog, according to police reports.
Another officer handcuffed and searched Rotter, and found in a hooded sweatshirt pocket a bag of 1 gram of a substance that later tested positive as methamphetamine A glass pipe commonly used to smoke meth was found in the Integra, as was a car stereo reported stolen from a vehicle earlier in the day.
Police did not find the reported pistol or bulletproof vest, but a resident in the 1000 block of Dulle Street called the police Friday to report she had found a Glock .40-caliber handgun in her yard.
A video review of the pursuit from a patrol car camera showed the gun had left the passenger side of the Integra, hit the street and bounced into the yard, according to police reports.
The passenger of the car was interviewed and told police she had thrown the gun out the window, though she said the gun was "sitting in the middle of the car and she threw it at the direction of Mr. Rotter," according to police.
Rotter was interviewed by police Friday morning and denied any involvement.
Police applied for a search warrant for the Nissan Maxima and the Acura Integra and found other items in the Maxima besides the chop saw and loppers, including a corded drill, a bit set, a socket set and a jig saw.
The homeowner from South Bluff Street identified the items as his, and they were returned to him.
A wallet also found in the front seat of the Maxima contained identification that belonged to Rotter.
The eyewitness who originally called in the burglary Thursday identified Rotter from a photo lineup.
Rotter was charged Friday with second-degree burglary, first-degree property damage, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm.
The unlawful possession of a firearm charge is a class C felony. The burglary and drug charges are each class D felonies, and the property damage and resisting arrest charges are class E felonies.
As of Monday afternoon, Rotter was being held without bond.