Photos courtesy of Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
A Missouri man is incarcerated in the Douglas County Jail after allegedly ramming the vehicles of Sheriff Chris Degase and one of his deputies near the end of a pursuit. Steven Browning of Sparta is being held without bond.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was reportedly notified April 13 of a pursuit involving the Ozark Police Department entering Douglas County. A deputy joined the pursuit at the Douglas/Christian county line on Missouri Highway 14.
Sheriff Degase was contacted and attempted to divert the suspect’s vehicle onto Missouri Highway 5 North to keep the chase away from the main portions of Ava, but the vehicle continued into town and turned into the parking lot of a convenience store. Sheriff Degase and the deputy then attempted to block the vehicle in the parking lot, but the suspect allegedly proceeded to ram both law-enforcement vehicles before backing up and ramming an Ozark police unit.
The suspect, later identified as Browning, then refused the sheriff’s command to exit his vehicle. He reportedly resisted arrest as Degase attempted to remove him from the vehicle. The deputy, an Ava officer and Ozark officers then assited in placing Browning in handcuffs, and he allegedly attempted to retrieve a knife from the fanny pack on his waist. An Ozark K9 assisted in securing Browning, and authorities were eventually able to apply the cuffs.
Browning is facing three counts each of first-degree assault on a law-enforcement officer and armed criminal action and one count each of aggregated fleeing arrest, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while intoxicated. Sheriff Degase and his deputy sustained minor injuries from the incident.
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