Lebanon Man Back In Jail Following High Speed Chase & Drugs Found In His Possession

A 41-year-old Lebanon man with a history of drug charges lands back in jail after leading authorities on a high-speed pursuit over the weekend.

The Laclede County Sheriff’s Office says Scott Bonner had been the target of a long-term investigation by the narcotics enforcement group and fled from deputies attempting to make a traffic stop.

Efforts to “spike” the vehicle were unsuccessful until Bonner entered the Lebanon city limits along Highway-32.

At that time, Bonner fled the vehicle on foot and was captured a short time later.

Seized in the bust were about 3.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 12 grams of heroin and over five-thousand dollars cash.

Bonner is being held on no bond in the Laclede County Jail with a bond hearing set for February 15th.

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Scott H. Bonner, 41, a convicted Laclede County drug dealer is back in the Laclede County Detention Center, after a weekend arrest for trafficking methamphetamine, fentanyl and leading Laclede County Deputies, Lebanon Police Officers and the Missouri Highway Patrol on a high-speed pursuit.

Bonner was arrested Saturday night (February 4, 2023) by agents from the Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group. Bonner was a target of a long-term investigation by LANEG. Deputies attempted to stop the 2020 Honda Civic, that Bonner was driving in the area of Owl Drive. Bonner, the lone occupant of the vehicle, then sped away from deputies. During the course of the pursuit troopers attempted to deflate the tires of the vehicle, but he was able to avoid the tire deflation device. When he entered the city limits of Lebanon, a police officer was able to “spike” the vehicle in the 18000 block of Missouri Highway 32. The pursuit came to an end at Taylor and Mizer Street, in Lebanon, when Bonner attempted to flee on foot from officers. He was captured after a short foot pursuit.

After his arrest, agents from LANEG found approximately 3.5 pounds of methamphetamine and 12 grams of heroin in Bonner’s vehicle. Agents seized $5,235 in cash from the car. The street value of the methamphetamine seized is $160,000.

Bonner was sentenced to 16-years in prison in 2018 from trafficking drugs. That prison time was to run concurrent with two five-year sentences for possession of a controlled substance.

“This is a perfect example of a broken system within the Department of Corrections. Bonner was sentence by a judge to 16-years in October of 2018 and then is paroled back to our community in April of 2022, and goes right back to trafficking drugs,” Sheriff David Millsap said, “this is not an isolated incident this is a pattern of people released from prison, that need to be locked up. It defies logic that  you can be sentence by a judge to 16-years, and be out in less than four years. No accountability by the offender and no accountability by DOC in allowing this to happen. ”

Missouri Sheriffs are currently working with members of the Missouri Legislature to draft language for a truth in sentencing bill that will keep offenders in jail, especially those with past convictions. “You want to stop crime, then age out the criminal in prison. There comes a point that criminality will stop or at least slow down with age.”

“Too many liberal politicians in Jefferson City are wanting social reform in the criminal justice system, especially those in the metropolitan areas, and want prison to be for violent crime. What they don’t get, or don’t want to address, drug dealers are violent criminals. We seized 3.5 pounds of meth, and 12 grams of heroin, both killer substances, and we have politicians and bureaucrats within DOC who don’t see this as a violent crime. It shows a real lack of concern for the people they represent,” Millsap said. “I hope the Sheriff’s, working through the Missouri Sheriff’s Association, can get some traction with truth in sentencing and stop some of this madness that is driving up crime rates in the metro areas, and in rural areas of this state.”

“This was great teamwork by local law enforcement, to get him off the street again, and hopefully with this arrest DOC will revoke his parole, send him back and keep him where he belongs, in prison,” the Sheriff said.

Bonner has been charged by the Laclede County Prosecutor’s Office for Trafficking Drugs and Possession of a Controlled Substance, and is being held in the Laclede County Detention Center with no bond. The Sheriff’s Office has sent a probable cause statement to the prosecutor’s office in regards to the felony resisting arrest.