By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
An escapee from Saline County was found dead after law enforcement personnel in Rice County attempted to arrest him Sunday morning.
At approximately 11:50 p.m. Dec. 28, a Saline County Sheriff's deputy near the intersection of N. Broadway Boulevard and State Street noticed a 1992 GMC Sierra pickup with an expired license plate, Saline County Sheriff's Captain Jim Hughes said during a media briefing on Dec. 29. The deputy attempted to stop the pickup, but it took off and a pursuit ensued, first through multiple Salina neighborhoods and then in Saline, Ottawa, Lincoln, and Ellsworth counties.
At one point during the pursuit, the pickup stopped at the intersection of N. Brookville Road and Ottawa Road in northwestern Saline County at the Ottawa County line, and deputies attempted a traffic stop. The driver of the pickup, identified as Steven Moss, 37, of Salina, instead allegedly backed the pickup into one of the Saline County Sheriff's Office's patrol SUVs and took off again, Hughes said.
The pursuit ended near the intersection of Old Highway 40 and 11th Road west of Ellsworth, where Lincoln County Sheriff's personnel and Kansas Highway Patrol troopers were able to apprehend Moss and a passenger in the pickup, Shaylynn Koch, 27, of Salina.
Hughes said both were brought back to the Saline County Jail, however, Moss was able to slip out of a handcuff and escape from the back of a Saline County Sheriff's vehicle while it was at the sallyport of the jail. A foot chase ensued, but Moss was able to elude law enforcement personnel and escaped. The escape occurred at about 2 a.m. Dec. 29.
Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said this morning that Moss showed up at a house in Geneseo in Rice County on Sunday morning. A person who lived in the residence called authorities who showed up at the residence to attempt to take Moss into custody, however Moss shot himself to death before they could do so, Soldan said.