Escapee's Jeep nearly hits officer

Nevada, Mo. -- City and county officers were on the lookout Friday for a 22-year-old Nevada man who had reportedly run from the Missouri Department of Probation and Parole office and escaped in a Jeep to the Rolling Acres neighborhood of west Nevada.

Dillon Reed was meeting with his probation officer about 9:30 a.m., Friday, at 330 S. Prewitt Ln. when the officer presented him with a warrant for his arrest, said Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman.

The sheriff said Reed's friend and another passenger were taken into custody after an unsuccessful attempt was made to ram a deputy in a patrol car.

He said the red Jeep Liberty raced the short distance north from the probation and parole office to West Austin Boulevard near Woods Supermarket and then west to where the street becomes U.S. 54.

The Jeep sped past the West Highway 54 Church of Christ and careened into the residential area, and Peckman said Reed leaped out and fled on foot.

"They tried to run over a deputy during the pursuit to Rolling Acres," he said.

"The suspect jumped out there and ran on foot. We have the driver and another passenger in custody."

Asked if Reed had been previously known to his department, Peckman said, "We know him quite well."

Because Reed had become a fugitive, Peckman said, deputies and policemen were giving the search a high priority. "We're looking for him," he said.