A naked man on a yellow ATV led police on a wild chase through the Northland for more than an hour Sunday afternoon.
The chase began at 2:20 p.m. when police investigated a report of a “suspicious party…a naked male” on an all-terrain vehicle near 8400 Northeast Sam Ray Road in Kansas City, North. The man was suspected of being under the influence of drugs, police said.
The man eluded officers for a while in a field by Northeast Shoal Creek Parkway and Missouri 152.
He eventually found a break in a fence and led police south on Northeast Shoal Creek toward the Kansas City Regional Police Academy. The man then circled back and got onto Interstate 435, where he led police south, heading the wrong way in the northbound lanes.
The man drove the ATV along the shoulder and in the median, and at times into oncoming traffic.
At Missouri 210, the man was still in the northbound lanes but circled back, heading the correct direction on the ramp to westbound Missouri 210.
He exited at Northeast Birmingham Road, where he was captured about 3:45 p.m. at the Cerner Corp. Riverport Campus, formerly the site of Sam’s Town Casino.
An ambulance was dispatched to the location.
Jess Fishell of Independence was in a car traveling south on Interstate 435 near the Worlds of Fun amusement park when he saw a swarm of police coming up behind him also heading south.
Then he saw the rider in the ATV coming up on the other side of the highway median, going south in the northbound lanes.
“Some cars really had to swerve to get out of his way,” said Fishell, who shot video from his phone as the chase went by toward Missouri 210. He shared the video with The Star.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office posted a message on Twitter saying the man was in custody.
This story was originally published February 25, 2018 5:03 PM.