Passenger jumps out during vehicle pursuit

Alexander J. Olson, 42, of Tecumseh, is charged with the class E felony of resisting arrest by fleeing - creating a substantial risk of injury or death to any person. 

According to the probable cause statement, prepared by Ozark County Deputy Gannon Moss, at 11:04 p.m. Aug. 18, the officer observed Olson turn onto the Gainesville square in a 2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor with Tennessee license plates and accelerate through the yield sign without yielding. Moss got behind the vehicle and attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but Olson reportedly sped up, accelerating to a high rate of speed, turning north, off the square onto Main Street with the officer following with lights and sirens.

During the chase down Main Street, Deputy Moss saw the passenger’s side door open on Olson’s vehicle, and his passenger, Travis Johnson, baled out of the moving vehicle into the roadway. Moss braked hard to avoid hitting Johnson, stopping in the roadway, which allowed Olson to continue on without the officer in pursuit.

Moss asked Johnson to explain what had happened, and he reportedly told the officer that he was getting a ride from Olson that night. He said when he realized Olson was going to attempt to flee the officer, he told him to stop and let him out. He said Olson refused to stop, so he opened the door and jumped out to avoid being a part of the pursuit that ensued. 

In a request to the judge for a warrant to be issued, Moss wrote: “Alex posed a significant danger to the public, as well as Travis Johnson by driving in a careless and imprudent manner, speeding on the opposite lane of traffic and refusing to stop and let the passenger out, forcing him to jump from a moving vehicle.”

A warrant was issued in the case with a $3,500 bond on Aug. 25, and he was arrested the next day. He was arraigned before Associate Judge Raymond Gross on Aug. 27 and released on his own recognizance on supervised bond release by Court Probationary Services. He is ordered to return to court before Gross at 9 a.m. Sept. 10 for a criminal setting.