A chase involving the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and a driver of a stolen vehicle led to an hours long search for the suspect, but thanks to an alert citizen, they got their man. Just before 2:00 yesterday morning, March 30th, a deputy attempted to stop a stolen vehicle at I-35 and K-68. The driver took off and led the deputy on a pursuit at speeds over 100 miles per hour. He exited the highway at Tennessee Road and ended up in a field, with the deputy continuing his pursuit. Once leaving the field, he headed east on Tennessee and crashed out on the bridge, leaving a significant portion of the concrete barrier open to I-35 below. He then took off on foot. A thorough search was unsuccessful. But, they didn’t give up. About 11 o’clock that morning, a motorist reported a man walking on the side of I-35 matching the description of the suspect. With the help of the Wellsville Police Department, he was located; but, he fled on foot again. At that point, reinforcements in the form of a k-9 unit, were called in . K-9 Stryker was able to apprehend him without significant injury.
The suspect is identified as 39-year-old Ronnie Masoner, of KCK. He is charged with felony interference, criminal threat, fleeing and eluding and more. He also had a warrant form the U. S. District Court for violating his supervised release. Once local charges are completed, he will be transferred into the custody of the United States Marshals
