Man runs from JPD and hits a building with a stolen van in Joplin
Joplin Police Officers notice a speeding car, no big deal. But when they attempted to make the stop the blue van took off. Officers, looking out for innocent travelers, didn’t chase the van.
The officer believed he took a call a few days ago about the same van so he went to, and later found the van near 15th and Kansas where it had hit a building.
Several people near the abandoned van said they witnessed a man jump from the vehicle after the crash and run into an apartment.
32-year-old Timothy S. Wright of Joplin was found in that apartment and matched all the descriptions and was identified by the officers as the driver of the van.
The van that Wright crashed into the building was identified as stolen. Plus, the van hit the building so hard that the wall moved. On the other side of that wall laid a pregnant mom and her young child. The wall came inches from hitting them both.
Wright has been charged with 4 th Degree Assault, Endangering the Welfare of a Child x2, Resisting Arrest by Fleeing, and 1st Degree Tampering.
The investigation is ongoing.