Updated and corrected
62-mile, 130 mph chase ends when SUV runs out of gas
A 27-year-old Burlington resident, Kassandra K. Allen, led police on a 62-mile chase at speeds up to 130 mph across three counties, including Marion, last week in her grandmother’s gray 2021 Ford Explorer.
The chase ended only after the SUV appeared to run out of gas between Newton and Wichita.
Marion County officers were notified at 4:48 p.m. Wednesday that Chase County deputies were pursuing the SUV west on US-50 from Elmdale.
At the Marion County line, Chase County deputies handed the chase to Marion County sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Jeff Soyez, undersheriff Larry Starkey, and sergeant Travis Wilson responded.
Soyez and Starkey were slowed by traffic. Wilson spotted the vehicle but could not get closer than 1½ miles from it.
He radioed Peabody officer Robert Bartlett, who picked up the pursuit at 5:02 p.m. near Peabody, becoming the first officer behind Allen for the remaining 25 miles of the pursuit.
Bartlett was able to stick with the SUV, flesh out what had been a vague description of it, and even relay its license plate number to dispatchers.
Harvey County deputies and Newton police were notified, but Bartlett remained in pursuit as the SUV sped out of Marion County, passing multiple vehicles on the right at speeds in excess of 130 mph, even while traveling through Walton.
Harvey deputies attempted to deploy a tire-deflating strip across the highway but apparently were unsuccessful and joined the chase.
The chase continued south on I-135, reaching K-196 near the Sedgwick County line. At that point, Soyez radioed Marion County deputies to leave the pursuit to Harvey County officers and Bartlett.
Wilson stayed close behind Bartlett, and Soyez and Starkey eventually joined him.
The SUV began to slow at the Sedgwick County line and exited onto 125th St. at 5:17 p.m. According to a social media posting by the Harvey County sheriff’s department, the SUV had run out of gas.
Bartlett arrested Allen and booked her into Marion County jail on suspicion of recklessly eluding police and reckless driving. She remained there Wednesday night, awaiting the setting of bond.
Monitored radio transmissions suggest that she did not initially identify herself to police.
Wilson searched the vehicle for anything that might identify her but found nothing and informed Bartlett that he might have to identify her via fingerprints once she was booked into jail.
According to monitored transmissions, officers learned that the SUV had just been reported as missing and possibly stolen from Allen’s grandmother, Carol Allen of rural Burlington. The SUV was towed to Newton.
Coffey County sheriff’s office would not say whether the SUV had been reported stolen “because it was an ongoing investigation.”
A dog found inside the SUV was taken by Wilson to Peabody’s animal control officer, who also works as a county ambulance attendant, for impounding.
Social media postings listed a person closely resembling the suspect, with ties to the same general region, named Kassie Allen, who works as a veterinary assistant in Park City, not far from where the chase ended.
In part because of early confusion over the driver's identity and close similarity in appearance between booking photos and social media photos, the two appeared to be the same person. This later proved to be false.
The Record retracts an earlier story confusing the two and apologies to veterinary assistant Kassie Allen of Benton, who was not in any way associated with the incident.