Steven C. Drake, Jr.

A 40-year-old Lawrence man who had been on the run after allegedly abducting his 12-year-old son Oct. 16 was apprehended Tuesday after a police pursuit.

Law enforcement has been seeking Steven C. Drake Jr. since he took his son, Andrew “Andy” Drake, 12, of Oskaloosa, from his custodial mother, Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Herrig said. Authorities believed Drake was armed and dangerous.

Around 11:20 a.m. Tuesday, Lawrence police spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley reported Drake was apprehended near U.S. Highway 40 and East 100 Road in Douglas County after leading about six different law enforcement agencies on a pursuit through Douglas and Shawnee counties.

Steven C. Drake, Jr.

Andy, the son, was also “recovered” at the scene with his father, McKinley said.

The chase followed an early-morning sighting of the Drakes in the 600 block of SE 34th Street in Topeka, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Officers had located the two there, but Drake fled with Andy and successfully escaped.

Andy was last seen Oct. 16 at school. Herrig said it is thought that he was coerced into running away with his noncustodial father. That same day, the boy’s mother, Shirley Morriss, was rear-ended and driven off the road on U.S. Highway 59 just north of U.S. Highway 24, Herrig said. Morriss said the driver was wearing a wig and mask, and she believed Drake was behind the accident, according to the family’s “Please Help Find Andrew Drake” Facebook page.

Drake was wanted on a warrant out of Jefferson County for aggravated assault, aggravated interference with parental custody, contributing to the misconduct of a child and child endangerment in connection with the alleged abduction, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

Typically, when a warrant is signed for a person, law enforcement does not disclose that information publicly. However, Herrig said the department was sharing the information because Drake “has made threats of violence,” was considered armed and dangerous and that a child was involved.

This is not the first time Drake has been accused of illegally taking one of his sons. In 2010, Drake reportedly hid his then 13-year-old son, Stevie Drake, from Stevie’s mother for more than a week.

Drake was charged with felony aggravated interference with parental custody by concealing a child. However, Drake ended up pleading no contest to the lesser charge of misdemeanor interference with parental custody as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, according to Douglas County District Court records.

Drake has a substantial criminal history in Douglas and Jefferson counties stemming back to 2007, including domestic battery, harassment, reckless driving, assault, forgery and several attempts to elude police and several theft convictions.

Drake is due in Douglas County District Court Nov. 9 for a jury trial on charges of battery of a law enforcement officer, fleeing or attempting to elude police custody, interference with law enforcement, battery, two counts of criminal damage to property and reckless driving. Drake is accused in that case of leading a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper in a pursuit through Lawrence in August 2014.