A 27-year-old Mexico, Mo., man was arrested Saturday for leading police on two vehicle high-speed chases through multiple counties with three stolen vehicles.
According to the Callaway County Sheriff's Office, Callaway deputies and Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers attempted to stop Clifford Helmka for operating a stolen vehicle on U.S. Highway 54 south of Kingdom City. Helmka failed to stop, leading law enforcement officials on a pursuit north on eastbound U.S. Highway 54 through Kingdom City and Auxvasse before he crashed just outside of Mexico. Deputies arrested Helmka on the scene.
According to a press release from the sheriff's office, Helmka was involved in another vehicle pursuit in Boone County earlier that day involving a vehicle stolen from Fulton. Helmka crashed the vehicle and fled from police on foot before stealing another vehicle in Boone County. The sheriff's department said Helmka then abandoned the stolen vehicle from Boone County and stole an additional vehicle in Kingdom City - the car he possessed at the time he was arrested.
Helmka is in custody at the Callaway County Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond for several Callaway County charges, including stealing a motor vehicle, tampering with a motor vehicle and first-degree felony resisting arrest in addition to numerous traffic charges.
Helmka also faces multiple pending charges in Boone and Audrain Counties. Investigations are being conducted by the Boone County Sheriff's Office, Audrain County Sheriff's Office and the Mexico Public Safety Department.
Police said at the time of Helmka's arrest, he was under the supervision of the MO Board of Probation and Parole for involuntary manslaughter of a child, an offense that occurred in Howard County.