Area man charged after foot chase

JCPD officer injured

A Lohman man faces several charges after a weekend foot chase with Jefferson City police.

As of Monday, Charles Allen Roark, 36, was being held in the Cole County Jail on $200,000 bond.

He is charged with two counts of possession of controlled substances (Xanax and marijuana), assault on a law enforcement officer, unlawful possession of a firearm and resisting arrest.

According to the Jefferson City Police Department, officers tried to stop Roark's vehicle for expired registration early Saturday morning, a few minutes after midnight, in the 100 block of West McCarty Street.

After leading the officers on a short pursuit, Roark crashed his car in the 300 block of Washington Street, then led the officers on a foot pursuit that eventually became a manhunt.

Exiting his vehicle, Roark was seen dropping a bag containing individual packages of marijuana and what turned out to be Xanax pills. A pistol was also recovered on the path Roark took to flee.

Officer Josh Hagemeyer saw Roark break a privacy fence, but broke his leg while chasing after the suspect.

Roark was found by Officer Cody Scheuler, approximately 200 yards from where Hagemeyer was hurt. Roark tried to flee again, but Scheuler eventually was able to tackle him and fight him into handcuffs.

When he was taken into custody, Roark was carrying $20,313 - including $8,150 hidden in his shoes.

According to court records available on Case.net (courts.mo.gov/casenet), the state court system's online docket reporting system, Roark has had several previous court cases.

On Dec. 5, 1995, he was charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced on June 28, 1996, to serve time in jail - to be served concurrently "with any other sentence."

And there were two sentences covered by that order.

On June 3, 1996, Roark, then 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to two five-year prison terms, to be served at the same time.

On Dec. 12, 1998, after he was released from prison, Roark - then 20 - was charged with purchasing, attempting to purchase or possessing liquor by a minor, an unclassified misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty in March 1999 and was fined $250.

Just eight days later, Roark was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. On June 15, 1999, he was placed on unsupervised probation and ordered to attend the substance abuse-traffic program.

On Aug. 17, 1999, he was charged with second-degree assault, a Class C felony. He pleaded guilty in January 2000 and was sentenced to three years in prison.

On March 29, 2004, Roark was charged with operating a vehicle without a valid license, a misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty Nov. 4, 2004, and was fined $100, plus $269 in court costs.

On June 10, 2004, he was charged with resisting or interfering with an arrest, another misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 4, 2004, was sentenced to 30 days in the Cole County Jail but was approved for 40 days house arrest under the electronic shackling program, instead.

He also was ordered to pay $169 in court costs within 30 days.