Inside Joplin

Monday, April 7, 2025

Lamar Police Department Weekly Report

(From the Lamar Police Department)

Department numbers for the week of Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2025

Dispatched calls – 252
Reports - 9
Car Stops – 4
DWI – 0
Drug/Paraphernalia Seizure – 0
Total Arrests – 5
Ped/Bike/FIC Cards - 7
Zone, Business & Residential Checks – 306

04/02/2025 Officers were dispatched to the 800 block of E. 9th St about property damage. No charges filed.

04/02/2025 Officer conducted a traffic stop at 1st & Truman. During the traffic stop, officer discovered passenger had a warrant out of Texas. Subject was transported to the Barton County Jail, where he will await extradition to Texas.

04/03/2025 Officers responded to the 600 block of Truman regarding an assault in progress. Residence and garage were cleared and no one was located. Nothing further at this time.

04/03/2025 Officers responded to the 900 block of Truman St regarding a harassment call. No charges filed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call 417-682-3546 and speak with Chief of Police Shannon Crouch.

Fugitive arrested after high-speed chase from McDonald County to Oklahoma

(From the McDonald County Sheriff's Office)

On April 2nd, 2025, a McDonald County Deputy coming back from a call in the Longview area observed a suspicious person walking near God’s Glory Tabernacle Church in the Bunker Hill area of McDonald County.

Unable to obtain much information from the uncooperative individual, the Deputy observed a vehicle parked at the church and obtained a vehicle license which it was obvious did not check back to the individual.

After developing additional information, the Deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle which led to the individual, later identified as William C. Wernimont of Kansas, Oklahoma, refusing to stop and exceeding speeds of 110 miles per hour on I-49 before exiting I-49 by going the wrong way on an on-ramp.

Working to identify Wernimont and the vehicle, the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office obtained search warrants and with the assistance of the Joplin (MO.) Police Department and the Missouri Information Analysis Center were able to identify Wernimont.

Wernimont, a convicted felon with outstanding warrants for felony assault on law enforcement and endangering the public while eluding, was tracked to a residence near the town of Kansas in Delaware County, Oklahoma.

There, deputies of the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement officers from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Cherokee Nation Marshal’s Service, Grand River Dam Authority, and Kansas (OK) Police Department went to the residence to execute the arrest warrants and Wernimont subsequently fled from those officers resulting in a two-hour long manhunt which led to the capture of Wernimont.

Charges are being submitted to the McDonald County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for the violations that occurred in Missouri and Wernimont is currently in custody in Delaware County on no-bond probation violation warrants.