photo by: Missouri Department of Corrections

Kirk Anthony Rios

Douglas County sheriff’s deputies arrested one man Tuesday after a vehicle pursuit ended in a field north of Lawrence.

The chase began just before noon after deputies observed a Dodge Caravan driving recklessly in North Lawrence near the turnpike, said spokesperson George Diepenbrock with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicle matched the description of a vehicle that Lawrence police suspected to have left the scene of an accident earlier Tuesday.

Deputies chased the van north out of the city on U.S. Highway 24-59. The van, going up to 90 mph, was moving into oncoming traffic before a deputy used a maneuver to force it off the road, Diepenbrock said.

The van came to rest in a field near Midland Junction. Deputies were able to detain the man without further incident, Diepenbrock said.

Kirk Anthony Rios, 31, of Osceola, Missouri, was booked into the Douglas County Jail on suspicion of fleeing and eluding and is being held without bond. He has a warrant for his arrest in Missouri, according to the jail’s booking log.

Rios was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm in St. Clair County, Missouri, in June 2022. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but that sentence was suspended to probation, according to Missouri court records.