Suspected drunk driver leaves SUV on its top, flees, brags that he "beat a DWI" and spits on JPD officer

(From the Joplin Police Department)

Incident Spotlight

Yesterday evening at 7:36 p.m. officers were dispatched to Lone Elm and Northridge for a rollover crash.

An SUV was on its top in the drainage ditch. A witness said the male driver was injured and fled on foot. 

Residents in the area began calling saying the male was contacting them saying he had "beat a DWI." 

Another resident notified officers the male contacted him at his house and asked for a beer, duct tape and a cell phone. A Jasper County Deputy in the area located the male near Jackson/Hampton. He was uncooperative with officers and transported to the hospital for a broken arm and other injuries from the crash. 

At the hospital, the driver spat on a Joplin officer, adding a charge of assault on law enforcement to his leaving the scene of a crash, driving while revoked and his DWI.