Man reportedly flees on foot when officers try to serve arrest warrant

Newt Anderson Souder, 21, of Wasola, is scheduled to appear in Ozark County court for a plea hearing or trial setting at 1:30 p.m. July 25. He has been charged with resisting/interfering with an arrest for a felony in connection with a May 18 incident. He’s being held in the Ozark County Jail on a $2,500 cash only bond.

According to the probable cause statement filed by Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin, at 1:30 p.m. May 18, he was notified by Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase that a felony with an executable-warrant was seen on Highway 5 in Ozark County. 

Degase told Martin that on his way into the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department, he saw Souder in a yard along the highway weed eating. Degase and Martin met and developed a plan to execute the arrest warrant on Souder. 

Degase and Douglas County Reserve Deputy Taylor Wallace pulled onto the property where Souder was seen in an unmarked car, and Martin pulled up behind them. Souder saw the two vehicles and recognized the law enforcement officers and took off, the report says. 

“Reserve Deputy Taylor Wallace took chase on foot through a barbed wire fence and through the field,” the probable cause statement says. “I left the property in my patrol unit traveling east on County Road 113 watching Souder fleeing from Deputy Wallace in full chase.”

Martin wrote that when his car became parallel with Souder, the sheriff exited his vehicle and was prepared to use “less than lethal bean bag rounds” if Souder didn’t stop fleeing, the report says. 

As Martin crossed the fence, he saw that Souder had stopped running and immediately dropped to the ground. He was arrested and transported to the Ozark County Jail.