LINN, Mo. -- A Bland man who was supposed to be in court to face criminal charges in Osage County turned himself in to authorities after leading them on a search for most of the day Wednesday.
Osage County Sheriff Mike Bonham said Steven Brandon, 27, was scheduled to appear in court in Linn on Wednesday morning, but as he was headed into court he decided to head back outside the courthouse. He then got into a vehicle and took off.
A deputy followed, and the chase went onto U.S. 50 and eventually onto U.S. 63, ending with Brandon going off the road and into some woods near County Road 501.
The Osage County K-9 unit was joined by K-9 units from Moniteau County and Jefferson City in searching for Brandon, and the Missouri Highway Patrol brought in airplanes to help search the area.
By mid-afternoon, Bonham said, they had information that Brandon had made it out of Osage County.
"We later learned that Mr. Brandon had become aware of the high amount of posts regarding the search for him, and he decided it was no use to continue running," Bonahm said. "He had made into Gasconade County and eventually walked into the Owensville Police Department, where he turned himself in Wednesday afternoon."
Bonham thanked the vigilance of residents throughout the area for helping authorities wrap up this incident.
"I'm thankful it turned out the way it did," Bonahm said. "It's rare you can end up an incident like this in this amount of time."
Brandon was scheduled to appear in court after he was arrested in October on drug-related charges. Deputies had seen Brandon sitting inside a vehicle at the commuter parking lot near Rich Fountain, according to sheriff's department reports. When they searched the vehicle, they found loaded firearms, a large amount of methamphetamine, marijuana and another substance believed to be hashish.