Greene County Sheriff's Dept.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The man who Greene County sheriff’s deputies say led them on a chase through Springfield on Thursday now faces new charges. The sheriff’s department says Michael Riemer, 25, was charged on Friday with two counts of resisting a lawful stop, two counts of possession of methamphetamine, and one count of receiving stolen property.
The department says one charge of resisting a stop and one charge of meth possession stem from a pursuit by deputies in January 2012; the other meth charge is for a violation in March 2012 that stems from a Springfield Police Department investigation; and the other charge of resisting a stop and receiving stolen property stem from the chase on Thursday afternoon.
That 15- to 20-minute chase reached speeds of up to 70 mph on some of the city’s busiest streets in the middle of the afternoon. It started in northeast Springfield and ended in southeast Springfield at a hotel on Kingsley Street between National and Fremont avenues.
Springfield police declined to join the chase because commanders said it didn’t meet the department’s policy for chasing suspects. Sheriff Jim Arnott says his department has a similar policy but he believed the chase was necessary because it was the only way to arrest Riemer.
Deputies had a warrant for Riemer’s arrest because he hadn’t shown up for scheduled court dates in January on a charge of driving while intoxicated. He also hadn’t shown up for scheduled appointments for a drug and alcohol screening and treatment program.
Arnott also said Riemer was wanted for questioning about an unsolved homicide in Greene County. Arnott wouldn’t say which homicide, but KSPR reports it’s the death of James Richardson, 27, whose body was found floating in the James River east of Springfield on March 15, 2012. KSPR’s report is based, at least in part, on a recording of scanner traffic during the chase in which someone mentioned Riemer’s name in connection with Richardson’s homicide.
Two people walking along the river bank near the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Crighton Access spotted the body. Investigators believe the body had been in the water for several days.
Riemer has past convictions for assault as well as DWI. Last December, an adult asked a judge for an order of protection against Riemer for the adult and a child. A judge issued those orders in January.
Neither Arnott nor the lead detective in the Richardson case returned KY3’s repeated telephone calls on Friday to comment about KSPR’s report or the status of the Richardson homicide investigation.
Riemer was in the Greene County Jail on Friday in lieu of a $50,000 bond on the new charges but the previous warrant for the DWI case does not allow him to post a bond.
