Surveillance video shows beginning of chase that led onto Andover golf course
By Jocelyn Schifferdecker
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ANDOVER, Kansas (KAKE) — Saturday afternoon, a person drove onto the Andover Municipal golf course while running away from a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper. It all started as a simple traffic stop.
“…It was pretty crazy stuff. But then it settled in and I was like this dude is going like 40-50 miles per hour and I was pretty scared,” said Justin Bartalone who was one of the golfers on the course when it happened.
He pulled out his cell phone to record the action-packed moment.
“He was flying the dust was kicking up behind him the state trooper was hot on his tail,” said Batalone while recalling what he saw. He says he and his friends made sure to get to safety and he saw other golfers running off the course as well.
The driver entered onto the golf course between two houses in a very narrow stretch of land. In a neighbor’s surveillance video, you can see the driver cut through the houses as it makes its way to the golf course trail.
Course general manager John Bloesser says he got a text from one of his workers after the chase had ended. He says his mind immediately jumped to the worst.
“I’m thinking oh man we’re gonna have damage everywhere,” he said while talking about one of his first thoughts.
He says luckily there was hardly any damage. The only signs of what happened include a crushed water spout of a neighboring house and a few tire marks in an area to the side of the course.
“It more or less followed the car path up and around to the north end of the course and then got back on the streets and ended up wrecking about a block east,’ said Bloesser.
He’s incredibly thankful no one was hurt.
Troopers arrested the driver. An investigation found the driver was connected to a string of burglaries in Wichita and Park City with several stolen items being recovered.
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