PRESS RELEASE

Joplin Man Sentenced for Illegal Firearm Following High-Speed Motorcycle Chase in Newton County

Friday, October 27, 2023

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Joplin, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing a firearm after he led law enforcement officers on a high-speed pursuit on his motorcycle across state lines from Kansas to Newton County, Mo.

Douglas Eugene Alexius, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on Thursday, Oct. 26, to six years and six months in federal prison without parole.

On April 13, 2023, Alexius pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Alexius was arrested on Oct. 9, 2022, after leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase. Alexius was driving a Harley Davidson motorcycle on U.S. Highway 166 in Cherokee County, Kan., when a sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop him for failing to stop at a stop sign. Alexius accelerated his motorcycle and led law enforcement officers in pursuit into Newton County. Officers observed the motorcycle swerving into the oncoming lane of travel on multiple occasions. Alexius lost control of his motorcycle and crashed at the intersection of Greenwood Drive and Birch Drive.

Alexius was taken into custody after being tased three times because he refused to follow an officer’s order to lie on the ground and kept reaching into his jacket pocket. Officers searched Alexius and found a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol in his jacket pocket.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Alexius has four prior felony convictions for resisting arrest and two prior felony convictions for possessing a controlled substance, as well as prior felony convictions for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possessing a firearm in relation to a drug offense, receiving stolen property, and unlawful use of a firearm.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron A. Beaver. It was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Newton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the Cherokee County, Kan., Sheriff’s Department.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.