Auxvasse man wanted after allegedly attempting to hit officer with vehicle

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Callaway County law enforcement officers are looking for an Auxvasse man after he allegedly fled after trying to hit an officer there with his car.

Auxvasse police say Jerry W. Wilkerson, 67, is wanted for second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest by fleeing after an officer went to speak with Wilkerson regarding a complaint.

Auxvasse Police Chief Kevin Suedmeyer said an officer visited Wilkerson at around 10:40 a.m. Wednesday to talk with him about a partial complaint he had made the night before against a separate Auxvasse officer.

Wilkerson was arrested Tuesday evening as a suspect in a case Auxvasse police investigated. He was charged with first-degree burglary and Class A misdemeanor assault, and posted bond that night, at which point he also registered a complaint but "never finished his statement" against the officer, Suedmeyer said.

When an officer met with Wilkerson Wednesday, Wilkerson was already in his vehicle. Suedmeyer said Wilkerson fled from the officer, nearly striking him on the way out.

"That resulted in the second-degree assault and felony fleeing," Suedmeyer said. "At that point he disappeared quickly ... he took off immediately because he was in his vehicle."

Suedmeyer said by the time the officer was able to get in his car and respond, Wilkerson had escaped. He is currently at large.

Following the incident, Wilkerson called the Callaway County Emergency Operations Center and told dispatch officers he would not pull over or turn himself into law enforcement until he had spoken to his lawyer. Officers from the Fulton Police Department and Callaway County Sheriff's Office have responded to help search for Wilkerson.

Suedmeyer said it was Auxvasse PD practice to speak in person with people who issue complaints.

"If there's a complaint about an officer, it will be handled like any other complaint - sometimes they're justified, sometimes it's because the person complaining is upset because they were arrested," he said. "Good guy or bad guy, we are going to hear and they can voice their opinion and tell us what's going on, it's perfectly fair, I'm not saying he's a bad guy, but he's the one in trouble right now. We're going to treat everyone fairly, it's justice for all, not just individuals."

According to Missouri Case.net, Wilkerson has been both plaintiff and defendant in a number of civil and municipal cases regarding rent and landlord complaints for mobile home properties he manages near Auxvasse. He has also been found or pleaded guilty to various charges ranging from assault to discharging a firearm at or from a motor vehicle toward a person, vehicle or inhabited building.

Wilkerson has been a fixture at Auxvasse Board of Aldermen meetings. He is a registered sex offender, convicted in 1974 for lewd and lascivious conduct with a child aged 13 according to National Sex Offender Registry watchdog group familywatchdog.us.