A grocery store employee allegedly stole a van Tuesday at a Lawrence convenience store and then led police in two states on a car chase that lasted more than two hours and covered 130 miles.

Brandon W. Callahan, 24, of Lawrence, is being held in a Missouri jail after the van he is accused of taking stopped after it was intentionally pushed toward a highway median barrier by a patrol car. No one was injured.

“He was only going 20 to 25 mph because his tires were blown out and he was going on the (wheel) rims,” said Sgt. Dan Green, spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The van had run over “stop sticks” – spiked devices used to deflate tires – that were thrown onto highways several times in Kansas and Missouri in attempts to stop Callahan.

The van, belonging to Kansas City Building Supply Co. in Overland Park, was taken shortly after 9 a.m. in a carjacking incident at the Shell gasoline station and convenience store at 1733 Mass., a Lawrence Police spokeswoman said.

Witnesses there said the van had stopped at the station’s front door. A man who was a passenger got out and entered the store. Authorities say the driver was forced from behind the wheel by Callahan, who took off with the van.

“He drove over a bush and drove over two or three curbs, then swerved into the middle of Massachusetts and took off south,” said a man who was outside the store at the time but declined to give his name.

The van also struck a Lawrence Police car, police spokeswoman Kim Murphree said. The officer was not injured.

Callahan was being sought by police who were investigating a disturbance a few minutes earlier at Checkers, 2300 La., where he worked as an apprentice in the meat department.

A man matching Callahan’s description was seen by an officer outside Babcock Place, 1700 Mass. The suspect crossed the street and went to the convenience store, Murphree said.

Multiagency chase

Plate glass pieces fastened to the outside of the van fell off when the van was driven away, leaving a trail of shattered glass in its wake.

“There was just glass flying everywhere,” said David Holroyd, a Lawrence man who was in the parking lot outside the Dillons store across the street from the convenience store.

The van traveled south on Massachusetts and then east on 23rd Street, Murphree said. Police stopped their pursuit at 23rd Street and Learnard Avenue, she said. Douglas County Sheriff’s officers picked up the van on Kansas Highway 10 and followed it until Kansas Highway Patrol troopers began pursuing it, Sheriff’s Lt. Doug Woods said.

Kansas Highway Patrol troopers chased the van along K-10, south onto Kansas Highway 7 and then onto U.S. Highway 169 toward Paola. A Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter also followed the chase.

Troopers continued the chase and then stopped their pursuit when the van crossed the state line in Miami County and headed toward Drexel, Mo., said Lt. John Eichkorn of the Kansas Highway Patrol.

The helicopter continued to follow the van until Missouri troopers caught up with it, he said. A Missouri State Highway Patrol airplane also followed the chase.

The chase continued onto Missouri highways 18 and 52 through Bates and Henry counties. Kansas City television news helicopters also followed the chase, showing the van sideswiping two vehicles stopped on the side of the road.

Before the stop sticks deflated the tires, the van’s speed was generally 50 to 55 mph, Green said.

“It wasn’t a real high-speed chase; he just didn’t want to stop,” Green said.

On Missouri Highway 13 east of Deepwater the van turned north toward Clinton. A Henry County Sheriff’s deputy then forced the van to a stop.

“We used what’s called the ‘pit maneuver,’ in which we actually put a patrol car up against the rear bumper of his vehicle, both traveling in the same direction,” said Henry County Chief Deputy Robert Hills. “Then we ease him in one direction or another to turn and stop him.”

The van came to a stop just inches from a 3-foot concrete barrier separating the north and southbound lanes, Hills said. The suspect, identified by Hills as Callahan, was taken into custody at 11:35 a.m. without incident, he said.

Co-workers stunned

The episode stunned employees of Checkers, where Callahan had worked for the last four years.

“When I found out that it was Brandon that works in the meat department, I was shocked,” said Sara “Bobbie” Hardeman, a cashier. “I never thought in a million years the Brandon that I know would do anything like this.

“Whenever he has come through my line he’s been very respectful. : He would say, ‘Thank you,’ or whatever, and then go on about his business.”

Callahan is from the town of Iola in southeast Kansas. He lived in an apartment complex near the grocery store and always walked to work, store director Mike Smith said.

Callahan had taken a weeklong personal leave of absence starting Nov. 7 and was due back at the store Tuesday morning to meet with management and discuss his status – a meeting that Smith said never happened.

Smith was inside the store shortly before 9 a.m. when he heard a report that someone had seen Callahan throw a shopping cart into the window of a van parked outside.

“I checked out the situation immediately and called police,” Smith said. “He ran around the side of the building, ran behind the building back toward the alley. A couple of people said they saw him running toward 23rd Street.”

Smith declined to go into detail about why Callahan had taken a leave, but he said he had no clue as to why Tuesday’s outburst happened.

“That’s what so puzzling. I can’t get inside his head,” Smith said. “He’s been a pretty good kid up to recently. : It took me by surprise.”

Charges against Callahan are pending in Kansas and Missouri. It was unclear Tuesday where Callahan might face charges first.

“We’re in the process right now of compiling paperwork and getting it all submitted to the county attorney,” Hills said.