Man leads police on chase from Missouri to Tennessee after stealing car full of kittens

Dillon Thompson
Updated ·1 min read

A man accused of stealing a car full of cats led police through at least four different states before he was finally arrested Monday, according to WTVF.

The sprawling chase began when 19-year-old James A. Pitts allegedly stole a white BMW with seven kittens inside from a rest area in Lee's Summit, Mo.

Pitts, who was previously wanted for violating the terms of his probation, managed to invade law enforcement, who warned police in Illinois and Kentucky that he was headed their way.

Kentucky authorities later spotted the vehicle on a state highway but said Pitts sped off across state lines into Tennessee before he could be arrested.

The suspect then crashed the stolen car somewhere near Clarksville, Tenn., and abandoned it before running into the woods. He was not arrested until the following day.

Police told WTVF that the animals were all uninjured. The cats are being cared for by Montgomery County Animal Care and Control until their owner can retrieve them.

There was also an unidentified woman with Pitts when he stole the car but she was reportedly dropped off at some point during the chase.

"I think it's cause for concern for the community," Darius Phillips, who lives near the crash site, told WTVF. "He's running around doing crazy stuff."

In other recent feline-related crime, a 79-year-old woman was sentenced to jail in July for feeding stray cats. Ironically, the woman lived in a town called Garfield Heights, Ohio. The sentence has since been vacated, however, and the woman will not serve time, according to Cleveland.com.