Wright City Man Sentenced for Stealing Firearms from Williamsburg Store
Led Law Enforcement on High-Speed Chase That Injured Trooper
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Wright City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for stealing firearms from a Williamsburg, Missouri, store then leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase in which a state trooper was injured.
Jack Arnold Wodke, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to eight years in federal prison without parole.
On June 26, 2019, Wodke pleaded guilty to stealing firearms from a licensed dealer. Wodke admitted he stole 25 firearms and other items when he burglarized Crane’s Country Store, 10675 State Road D in Williamsburg, on Dec. 19, 2017.
On Dec. 20, 2017, law enforcement officers responded to the Missouri Department of Transportation building in Williamsburg when Wodke pointed a handgun at an employee and threatened him. Wodke was driving a Ford F-250 pickup truck with no license plates, which was later determined to be stolen. As a state trooper and sheriff’s deputy arrived at that location, Wodke fled from them at a high rate of speed. The trooper and several deputies pursued Wodke.
While pursuing Wodke on County Road 1005, the trooper was involved in a single-vehicle accident where he was trapped in his patrol car for nearly two hours and was later transported to University Hospital by ambulance for his injuries.
Deputies continued pursuing Wodke until he drove into a bean field. At the intersection of County Roads 1022 and 1034, Wodke lost control of his vehicle and the truck spun into the grass. As deputies approached, Wodke put the truck into reverse and rammed it into the side of a Ford Explorer, operated and occupied by a Callaway County deputy, and attempted to drive away. At this point, deputies took Wodke into custody.
Wodke appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance. He was animated, had exaggerated movements, and kept twitching and talking about people that were not in the truck with him. Wodke admitted to using amphetamine, and later admitted that he had been up for three days and started seeing an imaginary person on the third day.
Deputies searched Wodke, who had a Ruger .380-caliber pistol in his left coat pocket along with numerous rounds of ammunition and knives. Found just outside the driver’s door of the truck was a black cloth pull string bag that containing a glass methamphetamine smoking pipe with a crystal residue inside and a small tin containing methamphetamine.
Deputies searched the truck and found several firearms that had been reported stolen from Crane’s Country Store.
In the bed of the truck was an ATM machine, numerous surveillance cameras, well over 100 packages of cigarette, display cases containing chewing tobacco, alcohol, and other items. Montgomery County deputies were investigating a commercial burglary at R&G Fuels, a gas station at the Danville exit of I-70. The owner of the business arrived and confirmed the items in the bed of the truck had been stolen from his business.
Deputies later recovered a Glock handgun with the serial number defaced, which had been reported stolen from Crane's Country Store, from the Missouri Department of Transportation parking lot.
All of the firearms stolen from Crane’s Country Store were recovered.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Turner. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Callaway County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
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