What would have been a few traffic violations escalated into a felony charge as Brian Wools, 46, of Cuba, fled from law enforcement.

He was arrested on Jan. 21 on charges of aggravated fleeing-a-stop-of-detention class D felony, operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner class B misdemeanor, exceeding the posted speed limit by 26 miles per hour or more - class B misdemeanor and a first offense owner operating a moving vehicle without maintaining financial responsibility (motor vehicle required to be registered) class D misdemeanor. He was taken to be held in the Crawford County Detention Center without bond.

His wife, Sherry Wools, 40, was also arrested on charges of hindering the prosecution of a felony, a class E felony, and making a false report, a class B misdemeanor. Sherry Wools was released on payment of a $2,500 cash or surety bond.

Sergeant Joseph Cochran of the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office wrote the probable cause statement for Wools.

“...At approximately (5:30 p.m.), I was patrolling in the area of Highway ZZ and Beamer Lane in Crawford County,” Cochran wrote. “As I was traveling east on Highway ZZ, I observed a small black passenger car passing two other cars traveling west.”

Cochran used his radar and found that the vehicle was traveling at 96 miles per hour, or 41 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. Activating his emergency lights, he turned around to catch up to the vehicle with the intention of conducting a traffic stop, but instead of slowing down and stopping, the car accelerated and began to pull away.

In an attempt to catch up, Cochran said that he had reached over 110 mph.

“As we traveled into Phelps County near Highway U, the vehicle passed another vehicle with incoming traffic,” Cochran said. “The vehicle ultimately crashed on the 20,000 block of Highway KK in Phelps County.”

Approaching the crash, Cochran witnessed and gave chase as Brian Wools tried to flee the scene on foot. He was found under a trailer at Brian’s Farm Equipment and taken into custody.

During his apprehension, Wools is alleged to have said, “But for some damn reason, I just kept going. I usually would’ve stopped, I usually would’ve pulled over.”

After being read his Miranda Rights, Wools agreed to speak with Cochran. He explained that he was driving around to test how fast his car would go. When he noticed Cochran’s emergency lights, “he ‘freaked out’ and just decided not to stop.”

While in hiding from law enforcement, Brian Wools contacted his wife, Sherry Wools, and explained to her that he crashed and she needed to report the 2004 Honda Civic as stolen.

“(She) did so by calling Cencom and making an official report of a stolen vehicle,” Cochran said.

In the probable cause statement for Sherry Wools, given by Sgt. Jason Davis, of the Cuba Police Department, “Sherry advised dispatch she last saw the vehicle earlier in the day.”

“Dispatch advised me of the information. Dispatch also advised the vehicle matches the vehicle that was just involved in the pursuit with Sgt. Cochran,” Davis said.

Under Missouri’s Valentine Law, named after a Missouri law enforcement officer who was killed in the attempt to stop a fleeing driver, the statute elevates fleeing from law enforcement in a motor vehicle to a felony offense if a driver knowingly refuses to stop.

Brian Wools, at 9 a.m. on Jan. 29, had a confined docket hearing, during which he was placed on a $ 5,000 cash or surety bond with GPS monitoring. He has a confined docket hearing scheduled at 9 a.m. on Feb. 5 at the Crawford County Courthouse with Judge Patrick J. Horsefield.

Sherry Wools has a 9 a.m. bond appearance hearing on Feb. 19 at the Crawford County Courthouse with Judge Patrick J. Horsefield.