A Dexter man remains in the Stoddard County Jail facing a number of traffic and drug-related charges, and his wife faces a charge of filing a false report following a high speed chase involving the Highway Patrol over the recent weekend in New Madrid County.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday, Mark J. Owens, 28, has been charged with felony fleeing, driving while revoked, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway, failure to signal, failure to stop at a stop sign, careless and imprudent driving and not wearing a seat belt. He is additionally charged with felony possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the affidavit filed by Trooper Matt Foster of the Highway Patrol, a pursuit involving a Dodge Avenger ensued on Friday, Aug. 8 in New Madrid County on Route E, south of U.S. 60 just after 2 a.m. at which time the license plate number on the vehicle was traced to Kara Owens of Dexter.
Pursuing the vehicle on Friday night was Trooper Dylan DeJournett, who eventually determined conditions surrounding the pursuit to be unsafe, and elected to terminate the pursuit. The vehicle, however, was located abandoned in a field near East Prairie later on Friday. It was confiscated for processing of fingerprints and to gather further evidence.
Two days following the chase on Aug. 10, Dexter Police received a call from Kara Owens, 30, who stated that she needed to file a report of her vehicle, the Avenger, having been stolen.
When Dexter Officer D.J. Robinson went to the Owen residence at 326 S. Locust Street, Kara Owens provided a written statement that the vehicle was stolen on Aug. 8.
When a check of the vehicle's plates revealed that the vehicle was in the patrol's possession and was being processed, Owens recanted, telling the officer she had lied.
According to Robinson's information, she "began crying and ripped up the statement." She then admitted to having been involved in the Friday night pursuit in New Madrid County and told Robinson that her husband, Mark Owens, was driving the Avenger as it was pursued.
A computer check revealed that Mark Owens was wanted on a felony warrant out of New Madrid County for a parole violation. Kara Owens was charged with filing a false report. At that time, the Highway Patrol became involved once again with the case, with Trooper Foster on the scene.
Mark Owens was not at the residence at the time his wife initially contacted police. Police later revisited the home, however, and after some delay, were greeted by Owens at the door of the home. He was arrested without incident.
When asked by Foster why it took some time to answer the door, Owens reportedly replied, "I was getting rid of some meth and heroine."
"I asked Mark Owens where the contraband was located inside the residence, and he said, 'There ain't none. I got rid of it all,'" the trooper relayed in the signed affidavit.
Foster then obtained written consent from Kara Owens at the Dexter Police station to search the couple's residence. In the master bedroom of the home, Foster located a brown purse with a pink container inside that tested positive for methamphetamine. Inside the bedroom closet were three marijuana pipes with marijuana residue inside, all of which were seized as evidence.
Returning to the local police station, Mark Owens admitted to the trooper that the contraband and paraphernalia was indeed his.
A short time later, Mark Owens complained to Foster of stomach pain and told the trooper, "I ate four grams of meth and some heroine." Owens was transported to SoutheastHEALTH of Stoddard County where tests were administered, but no trace of the contraband was detected. He was then transported to the Stoddard County Jail, where he remains under a $15,000 bond. Kara Owens posted bond and was released from the Dexter City Jail.
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