Driver who crashed after Independence police pursuit is charged in death of bystander
A 32-year-old man is charged with three felonies, including murder, after leading Independence police on a high-speed pursuit and then crashing head-on into a bystander’s car, killing the 50-year-old woman Sunday night.
Jackson County prosecutors on Wednesday charged Matthew T. Brooks with second-degree felony murder in the death of Sharon Ault, of Buckner. He also faces counts of resisting arrest and tampering with a motor vehicle.
An arrest warrant for Brooks issued Wednesday calls for him to be held in jail on a $300,000 cash-only bond.
About 11 p.m. Sunday, police officers were on patrol near Lee’s Summit Road and South Avenue when they spotted a red Ford F-150 pickup without a license plate. An officer attempted to stop the driver, who fled north on Lee’s Summit Road.
The police chase went past Truman Road, where the F-150 nearly struck another vehicle, according to a police affidavit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court. It continued on U.S. 24, reaching 100 mph, as the driver traveled through a center lane, risking collision with oncoming traffic.
Turning onto Little Blue Parkway, according to court documents, the driver went on the wrong side of the road as police officers continued pursuit from the other side of the divided highway. The chase was called off at Bundschu Road, when the F-150 continued southbound in the northbound lanes of travel.
Moments after police turned off the sirens and slowed down, the officers came upon a crash involving the F-150 and a Dodge Sedan driven by Ault, the affidavit says.
Two responding officers broke out a window on Ault’s sedan with a police baton. She was determined to be dead of her injuries at the crash site.
Brooks was trapped behind the steering wheel of the F-150. He was taken to the hospital. Officers arrested an unnamed female passenger who was found hiding in the grass nearby, according to the affidavit.
An Independence police officer visited the hospital where Brooks was taken and found he was impaired.
A preliminary blood test performed showed the presence of methamphetamine, according to court documents, though a confirmed lab report remained pending Wednesday.
Police found that the truck had been reported stolen on the other side of the state line in Johnson County on May 30. At the time of the pursuit, Brooks had an active warrant for second-degree burglary.
Online court records did not list a defense attorney representing Brooks in the charges filed Wednesday.
Meanwhile, family members of Ault say she was a devoted mother of five who loved family outings.
On the night she died, she had stopped by a Walmart to pick up groceries and was about 15 minutes from her house when she was hit by the truck, her daughter Jessica Ault told The Star during an interview Tuesday.
“She was an amazing person, loving, caring, devoted to being a mom,” she said, adding: “She lived every moment to her fullest.”
Loved ones have since started a fundraiser for the Ault family.
The Star’s Katie Moore contributed to this report.
