Following two separate manhunts Wednesday spearheaded by Missouri Highway Patrol troopers and assisted by Callaway County deputies, the last suspect was apprehended late Wednesday afternoon.
"Not only did we have the two manhunts in northern Callaway County, we were simultaneously handling many other calls, including disturbances, all across the county. Resources were stretched thin," Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism said Thursday. "We handled 62 calls across the county during the 24-hour period of Aug. 1. Needless to say, deputies and investigators were extremely busy."
No officers were injured in either incident, Chism added. Both chases also included K-9 Iro from the Callaway County Sheriff's Office.
"We were blessed to have two manhunts involving multiple law enforcement officers, yet at end of the day, all the officers were safe and the suspects ended up in jail," Chism said.
In the initial incident, troopers requested assistance at 9:12 a.m. locating a suspect who had fled from the scene of a vehicle accident on eastbound Interstate 70. This accident was near mile marker 116 and state Route N, just past the east Callaway County line into Montgomery County - southwest of Graham Cave State Park. The suspect, Matthew David Walker, 28, was caught later in the afternoon.
Another manhunt began near Auxvasse Creek, on the south outer road of I-70, near mile marker 152, northeast of Calwood. Deputies responded at 11:58 a.m. to assist troopers who reported a stolen vehicle crash and two suspects who had fled on foot. One suspect, identified later as Jesse Tamburo of Colorado Springs, Colorado, had been seen at a local business and his image captured on video.
This incident ended about 5 p.m. Wednesday with four suspects, including two juveniles, in custody.
Tamburo, 21, was charged with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, resisting/interfering with arrest for a felony, leaving the scene of an accident, operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, operating a car less than 18,000 pounds following another vehicle too closely, possession of marijuana (10 grams or less), unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, and failure to drive within the right lane of a highway with two or more lanes in the same direction. Tamburo was placed in the Callaway County Jail with no bond.
Also arrested in this incident was Matthew A. Solomon, 25, of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was charged with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, resisting/interfering with an arrest for a felony, possession of marijuana (10 grams or less) and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Solomon also was placed in the Callaway County Jail with no bond.
Final arrest
Walker, the man arrested in the initial manhunt in Montgomery County, is from Wentzille. Scott White, public information officer with Missouri Highway Patrol's Troop F, said Walker apparently stole a gray VW Beetle after the crash in Montgomery County and later was arrested in Boone County.
Walker was arrested at a residence on State Road HH, northeast of Columbia, and booked at 4:13 p.m., according to Boone County Sheriff's Office records. He was charged with second-degree burglary, tampering with a motor vehicle, misdemeanor stealing, resisting/interfering with arrest, second-degree burglary, and stealing a motor vehicle.
"He was arrested on HH in possession of a stolen vehicle," said Det. Tom O'Sullivan of the Boone County Sheriff's Office.
Walker remained in the Boone County Jail Thursday morning.
White said the local Highway Patrol K-9 Rony had been on the way to help when the last suspects were caught. Montgomery County Sheriff's deputies also were part of the search team.
"There were helicopters and dogs and officers searching; everybody did great," White said.