On Tuesday, July, 11, 2017, JACOB MCCRACKEN, d/o/b 7/20/1995, of Branson, Missouri entered an open plea without an agreement to two D felonies of Endangering the Welfare of a Child in the 1^st Degree, two (2) class E felonies of Resisting Arrest, and one (1) class E felony of driving while license revoked in front of Taney County Circuit Judge Tony Williams as a prior and persistent felony offender. Formal sentencing is set on October 3, 2017.

On April, 10, 2017, Trooper Hall of the Missouri State Highway Patrol received a tip that McCracken was on Missouri 165 traveling towards Hollister, Missouri in a gray SUV. McCracken had two active felony warrants for his arrest. Trooper Hall was able to identify the SUV being driven by McCracken and attempted a traffic stop of the vehicle. McCracken took off and during the pursuit ran through a stop sign, drove into the oncoming lane of traffic six times, and endangered other drivers that were on the road. He abandoned his vehicle and the two children that were riding with him in the backseat on Diamond Hill and led Trooper Hall and deputies with the Taney County Sheriff’s Department on a foot chase. With the aid of Trooper Zeller and his K-9 dog, McCracken was tracked to a residence on Wisconsin Road where he was found hiding from officers under a porch and arrested. McCracken had a suspended revoked driver’s license at the time of his arrest.

As a prior and persistent felony offender, McCracken faces a range of punishment for each county of Endangering the Welfare of a Child in the 1^st Degree of three (3) to ten (10) years in the Missouri Department of Corrections or up to (1) year in the County Jail and/or a fine not to exceed $10,000. For each count of Resisting Arrest and Driving While License Revoked, McCracken is looking at a range of punishment of up to seven (7) years in the Missouri Department of Corrections or up to one (1) year in the County Jail and/or a fine not to exceed $10,000.