<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/policeandfire.gif" border=0 > Oklahoma man faces charge in car-theft case

June 06, 2009 12:52 am

— An Oklahoma man has been charged with felony tampering in connection with a stolen car that was recovered by Joplin police.
The Jasper County prosecutor’s office charged Jimmy D. Sluder, 50, of Miami, with first-degree tampering and being a fugitive from out of state. Sluder was arrested about 6:10 a.m. Tuesday after a brief foot chase in the 200 block of South Park Avenue.
Cpl. Chuck Niess of the Joplin Police Department said a patrol officer realized that a green Chrysler he passed in the area matched the description of a vehicle that was stolen from a dealership in Cherokee County, Kan., and he turned around to stop the car. The driver pulled into a driveway near Third Street and Park Avenue, and got out and ran, Niess said.
The man fled through an elderly resident’s house in the 200 block of South Park Avenue and was caught going out the back, Niess said. He said Sluder had numerous outstanding warrants out of Jasper and Newton counties in Missouri, and out of Kansas.