Driver faces DWI, other charges after accident in stolen vehicle

Cabool resident Joseph Hale, 32, was arrested Dec. 18 in connection with alleged drunk driving and then fleeing from officers during a chase in Bakersfield after he was spotted in a stolen vehicle. 

Formal charges have not yet been filed in the case, but Hale is listed on the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s arrest report in connection with the incident. 

This week’s sheriff’s report (see page A7), indicates that a 2018 Ford F-150 four-door truck was reported as stolen from Cedar Drive in Bakersfield at 10:11 p.m. Friday. A dispatcher relayed the information over the police radio to Ozark County’s officers on duty.

Around the time the alert about the stolen vehicle went out over the radio, Ozark County Deputies Steve Ator and Jeffrey Lane were responding to a vehicle crash at Highways 101 and County Road 564 in Bakersfield, and Deputies Kyle Hannaford and Cecilia Schofield were also in the Bakersfield area.

“Within minutes of the call, I spotted what looked to be the vehicle of interest, and by the time I could get on the road, the vehicle had accelerated away, north on Highway 101,” Lane told the Times Monday. 

Hannaford and Schofield, traveling southbound on Highway 101, met the same vehicle and reportedly attempted to initiate a stop, but the vehicle did not stop and continued north on Highway 101. Lane, Hannaford and Schofield followed. 

The OCSD officers contacted officers with the Howell County Sheriff’s Department for assistance, and they responded in an attempt to help locate Hale, who reportedly wrecked the vehicle and fled on foot. Hannaford and Schofield apprehended him quickly.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol arrest report, Hale was cited for driving while intoxicated, driving with a revoked license and leaving the scene of an accident. He was held in the Ozark County Jail on a 24-hour hold. 

Formal charges are expected to be filed in Ozark County Court in the coming weeks.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423