Two arrested after stealing car; fleeing from officers

Deputies in Lafayette County arrested two men who they said stole a vehicle, crashed it and tried to run from the scene. Deputies tried to stop the vehicle along Highway 11 in Gratiot at around 7:50 p.m. Sunday. The driver, 18-year-old Hayden Rowley of Warren, Ill., refused to stop and eventually turned onto Old Highway 11 in Wayne.  According to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, the vehicle left the road, went into a ditch and stopped in a cornfield. The driver and a passenger, 18-year-old Jesse Ellis of Freeport then got out of the vehicle and tried to run away. Deputies were eventually able to take both men into custody without further incident. Rowley faces charges for operating a motor vehicle without owner’s consent, knowingly fleeing an officer, criminal damage to property, felony bail jumping and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license. Ellis faces charges for operating a motor vehicle without owner’s consent as a party to a crime, knowingly fleeing an officer as a party to a crime, criminal damage to property as a party to a crime and misdemeanor bail jumping.