Joplin man convicted in 2015 of assault, abandoning a corpse charged with felony resisting arrest, punching police animal

A Joplin man is free on $3,000 bond on charges of resisting arrest, driving while revoked and assaulting a police animal following a June 22 pursuit that began at 2307 W. 7th Street in Joplin.

According to the probable cause statement, Joplin Police attempted to make a traffic stop on Jared Prier, 33, who had allegedly left the scene of an accident.

Prier kept going until he drove off the road on Flower Lane, jumped out of his pickup and ran into the woods.

After a short foot pursuit, Prier was apprehended with the use of a police K9. While attempting to get Prier in custody, Prier repeatedly punched K9 Pax.

The brush with the law is not the first for Prier, who was sentenced to seven years in prison by Newton County Circuit Court Judge Tim Perigo in February 2015 for assault and abandonment of a corpse, in connection with an incident in which Prier shot one man twice in the stomach, shot at a woman and abandoned the body of a third person.

During the investigation of that case, Newton County law enforcement noted that Prier was a member of the Joplin Honkies gang.

From the probable cause statement:

Jennifer Miller stated to this detective that she, Thomas Webb, Jared Prier, and two other subjects (Jennifer did not want to identify) were partying at Steven Severs' house at 3689 Cherry Road the night of August 17, 2014.

Jennifer stated that she was sitting on the couch getting ready to do her nails and Thomas was sitting next to her. Jennifer stated that she heard a loud bang and looked up and observed Jared Prier pointing a gun in her and Thomas' direction. 

Jennifer said that Jared nearly shot me in the head and actually nicked her right hand with a bullet causing it to bleed a lot. Jennifer stated that Thomas jumped up and ran around the table and that Jared approached him and shot Thomas twice in the stomach. Jennifer stated that she ran to the door and exited the residence and ran to the south side of the property to a trailer that Steven Severs' father, Lester Severs, resides inside.

Jennifer stated that she and Lester then walked back to the residence and Jared Prier met them in the doorway. Jennifer stated that Letser asked Jared why he began shooting inside his son's residence and that Jared advised that he did so because he believed Thomas was a "rat." Jennifer stated that Dennis "Nathan" Meyer then showed up at the residence ready to party, not knowing that the shooting had just happened.

Jennifer stated that once Dennis "Nathan" Meyer was advised of the shooting, he gave Jared a ride away from the residence. Jennifer stated that while she had been gone to get Lester to come down to the residence, Thomas had fled to the vehicle he had driven to the residence and drove over a few driveways to where Jennifer could still see the tail lights of his vehicle.

When this detective located Jared Prier and asked what had occurred, Jared states that he was not present at the Cherry Road address that evening, that he believed Dennis "Nathan" Meyer had shot Thomas Webb.

Dennis "Nathan" Meyer is deceased as of August 21, 2014 and Jared Prier is currently in custody for the abandonment of Dennis "Nathan" Meyer's corpse, therefore this detective could not interview Dennis.

Meyer was also a member of the Joplin Honkies.

Prier's co-defendant on the corpse abandonment charge, Chelsie Berry, 30, Webb City, also pleaded guilty.

The two first became suspects after they posted a photo on Facebook showing them with the corpse.

Prier's seven-year sentence came just 26 months after Judge Perigo sentenced him to seven years in prison after Prier pleaded guilty to felony assault, then suspended the sentence and placed him on probation for five years.

Perigo revoked Prier's probation in January 2015, but then sentenced him to seven years on the shooting and four years on the abandonment of a corpse charge.