NEWS RELEASE





For further information please contact:


Sergeant Brent J. Bernhardt


(660) 385-2132


B05014


January 27, 2005





EMPHASIS: Adair County, Iowa, Jail Escapee Nick Briner Apprehended in Chariton County








At approximately 10:52 P.M., on January 26, 2005, Nick L. Briner, 31, of Waykee, Iowa, was arrested on Route E, approximately one half mile east of Rothville, Missouri. Briner was taken into custody by officers from the Chariton County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol after he crashed a stolen 1997 Chevrolet pickup truck into a bridge as he was being pursued by the Chariton and Linn County Sheriff’s Departments. As a result of the traffic crash, Briner received minor injuries and was transported to the Pershing Memorial Hospital in Brookfield, Missouri by a Chariton County Ambulance.





Briner led north Missouri law enforcement officers on a two-day manhunt after he escaped custody from the Adair County, Iowa jail, where he was being held on theft charges. Briner is believed to be responsible for the thefts of vehicles from Adair, Sullivan, and Linn Counties.





Briner is currently being held in the Chariton County jail on the following charges: felony Adair County, Iowa Escape warrant; felony Union County, Iowa warrant for burglary; felony Schuyler County warrant for fraud; and six misdemeanor Harrison County warrants. More charges are pending.


The Missouri State Highway Patrol would like to thank citizens of northeast Missouri who promptly assisted law enforcement officers in locating Briner. Other law enforcement agencies involved in the apprehension were the Adair, Livingston, Randolph and Sullivan County Sheriff Departments, and the Brookfield and Marceline Police Departments.





The charges for which Briner was arrested are mere accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.