Sex offender charged in Excelsior Springs chase that put hole in roof of veterans building
An Olathe sex offender has been charged with fleeing from police after a high-speed chase in Excelsior Springs ended with the vehicle putting a hole in the roof of a veterans building on Feb. 15.
Calen Hollis, 22, was charged with two counts of aggravated fleeing a stop.
Hollis allegedly had two 13-year-old female passengers in the car with him, according to court records. Hollis allegedly said he received a message from one of the girls on Snapchat, asking him to get alcohol. They allegedly told him they were 18, and he drove from Lenexa to pick the girls up in Rayville, Missouri.
All three were transported to area hospitals with serious injuries, Excelsior Springs police chief Gregory Dull said in a statement. One of the passengers suffered a broken clavicle, multiple spinal fractures, and deep cuts on her right eye and right side of her head.
Hollis is in custody at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, but will be extradited to Clay County Detention Center. Hollis could face additional charges, Dull said.
Around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Excelsior Springs police allegedly saw a 2025 Volkswagen Jetta on Route 10 highway and South McCleary Road driven in a way that made officers believe Hollis may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Once officers activated their emergency lights, Hollis allegedly accelerated east on Route 10 and Kearney Road, driving over 100 mph.
As the vehicle approached the S-curve at the intersection of Old Orchard Street and Kearney Road, the driver allegedly continued eastbound on Linwood Avenue, where it launched off the road near Wildwood Street, flew over St. Louis Avenue and crashed into the roof of the Clay-Ray Veterans Hall, Dull said.
No one was inside the building when the incident occurred.
Hollis is a sex offender in the state of Kansas stemming from a 2022 case where he was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, according to court records. He is on felony probation from Johnson County for having sex with a 14-year-old and served 36 months in jail, according to records.
Veterans building closed
Chris Stull, president of the Clay-Ray Veterans Association, said the building is closed until further notice as he waits for insurance estimates. The building has been updated through the years with the earliest sections established in the early 1900s, Stull said.
“There’s a lot of work that’s got to be done before I can figure out when we’re going to be open,” Stull said.
The building houses several veteran groups like the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Sons of the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary. The groups have been offered meeting spaces by nearby clubs like the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Elks Lodge, Stull said.
What can’t be replaced is the income that the building gets from its bar, which helps maintain the building. Another source of income put on hold is Friday night bingo hosted by the American Legion. Stull said he had to call the Missouri Gaming Commission because the license is for games to be held at the hall and nowhere else.
“We may be down a couple months. It may take the rest of the year. I don’t know what the insurance is going to do,” Stull said.