Five indicted by Cole County Grand Jury this week

The Cole County Grand Jury recently handed down several indictments, finding there was enough evidence to send the cases to the circuit courts for possible trial.

Among those indicted was a Jefferson City woman charged in connection with a stolen property case from March.

Sheila Bax, 41, is charged with possession of a controlled substance.

In December, authorities took a report of a burglary of a storage unit in the 4800 block of Old Lohman Drive, where taxidermy mounts, animal traps, arrowheads, long guns and a TV had been taken, according to Missouri Highway Patrol probable cause statements.

Mark Bax, Shelia's brother, was interviewed, because he had stolen items from a storage unit in Eugene. He said he was in possession of the stolen items but had bought them from someone else.

That individual told authorities he and Mark had burglarized the Old Lohman storage unit, and Mark had sold many of the animal mounts to a bar in Tebbetts. An employee of the bar said the mounts were purchased from Sheila, and they were turned over to authorities. It was also learned at that time Mark and Sheila Bax might have sold some of the stolen guns to Sheila's boss.

Sheila contacted her boss, asking if he wanted to buy some firearms from her brother. Her boss then met with the Bax siblings at his business on East High Street, purchasing four guns for less than $500. The boss provided authorities a series of text messages, in which Sheila expressed her intention to sell the guns for her brother and asked her boss to run checks to see if the guns had been entered as stolen.

Sheila was later stopped in the 700 block of Dix Road for a driving violation. Officers using a K-9 unit searched the vehicle and found Sheila's wallet above the driver's-side sun visor with a clear plastic bag containing 2 grams of methamphetamine.

Also indicted was a man charged in connection with a chase with Jefferson City police in February 2016.

Charles Davis Jr., 32, is charged with possession of a controlled substance, first-degree tampering and resisting arrest.

Court documents show Davis was driving at a high speed and passing a vehicle on the shoulder on Route C. He was spotted turning onto the ramp to U.S. 54 West and accelerated from police who were following him.

Davis was speeding, passing vehicles on the shoulder, changing lanes back and forth, and cutting off some vehicles.

Turning onto Madison Street, he continued to pass and cut off vehicles recklessly. He slid sideways as he attempted to turn onto Atchison Street and continued north to Ashley Street, where he got out of the car and fled on foot. A short time later, he was taken into custody.

When searching for Davis, officers found hydrocodone pills.

When asked why he didn't stop for officers, Davis said he knew he had a parole warrant and didn't want to go back to jail.

Also indicted were two people charged with second-degree drug trafficking in Cole County.

James Freant, 36, of Wentzville, and Sheila Kean, 51, of Wright City, are also charged with two counts each of possession of a controlled substance.

Officers were called to the 1700 block of Jefferson Street on May 5 after three people appeared to be tampering with a motor vehicle, according to Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statements.

Freant and Kean were two of the individuals, and Freant said the vehicle was his.

Freant gave consent to search the vehicle, and officers found a bag containing smaller bags with 17 morphine pills, 17 pills of the controlled substance Phentermine, methamphetamine and pieces of drug paraphernalia.

Freant said he allowed Kean to borrow his vehicle and knew the bag belonged to her. He said Kean tried to pass it to him so he could hide it, but he refused. Freant also said Kean had driven from Wentzville in an attempt to purchase more narcotics in Jefferson City.

When questioned, Kean said she had no knowledge of the the items found in the vehicle. Court records show Kean has an extensive criminal history with multiple drug and drug distribution convictions dating as far back as 1997.

Also indicted was a Jefferson City man charged with an assault in May after he tried to choke a woman he was living with in the 300 block of East Dunklin Street.

Kevin White Jr., 25, was charged with second-degree assault after he dragged the woman into the kitchen of the home, pulled her hair, hit her and tried to choke her, according to a probable cause statement.

When police arrived, the woman had red marks and a scratch on her face. White denied anything had happened and told police he was trying to get away from the woman, according to the statement.