The case of the stolen Tahoe, the car chase, shooting and manhunt
Kanza Travel Plaza
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — One of two suspects involved in a highly unusual two-state car chase in the middle of December has pled guilty to five felony charges and will be awaiting sentencing on March 17 in Sumner County District Court.
Joseph Wiley, 33, of Wichita has pled guilty to theft, criminal possession of a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied motor vehicle and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The charges stem from a Dec. 18 incident that involved a stolen car at an interstate service center, an ensuing car chase involving private citizens, a shooting, and a manhunt thereafter in Sumner County.
Wiley’s accomplice Jaqueline Brooks, 28, of Wichita is still awaiting a hearing. Her case is continuing until March 18.
On Dec. 18 at 10:37 a.m., Walter LeEarl Miller, address not available, was driving a silver 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe and stopped at the Kanza Travel Plaza in Braman, Okla. on his way to pick up his children according to an affidavit. Miller said the Tahoe was almost out of fuel and he went inside the store. When he was coming out he saw that his vehicle was being stolen. Nobody else had been in the car with him.
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The car was heading north on I-35 and Miller started to yell that his car was being stolen. At this time, Brenda Leverich of Wellington happened to be at the service center with a friend in her Nissan Titan. She stated to authorities that she saw Miller walk outside yelling and nearly got hit by another car chasing after it. She had him get into her vehicle to trail the stolen Tahoe.
The two got on I-35 and started following Wiley and Brooks in the stolen Tahoe. Wiley turned east on U.S. 166, got to Hydraulic Road and turned north. They then made a U-turn in the ditch and proceeded south where the two vehicles passed one another.
Wiley eventually got back on I-35 southbound with Leverich following him. He started slowing down and was under a bridge when Leverich said she saw the driver’s side window go down and a gun was pointed right at her car. Then there were two gunshots. At this point, Leverich, who estimated she was about six car lengths behind in her car, slowed her vehicle to a stop and put it in reverse to get more distance between the two vehicles.
Miller later told police that he had a Glock 23 in the front seat with two magazines — one in the handgun and the other in the center console.
It was at this time for whatever reason, Wiley and Russell pulled over and got out of the Tahoe and ran across four lanes of traffic to the east ditch and into a nearby tree row. He was wearing a red beanie and a black Carhartt-style jacket. She was wearing black clothing. It was at this time law enforcement got involved and the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office placed a perimeter barricade. The two suspects were feared to still have the gun.
The standoff lasted about an hour until the Kansas Highway Patrol could provide aerial assistance. Eventually after two low plane passes above the tree rows, they discovered the suspects hiding under one of those trees. The two suspects would eventually give themselves up.
Joseph Wiley
Wiley and Brooks were then transported to the Sumner County’s Sheriff Office in Wellington for interviews. During the search, they found two unused casings south of the U.S. 166 bridge. Items found east of the road and the trees were: keys for the Tahoe, Miller’s black wallet, Victoria Secret slippers all taken from inside the car. On the suspects was $70 in cash from Miller’s wallet. Brooks was wearing a black Victoria Secret bathrobe. Victoria Secret items were in the car before it was stolen. The gun was located under the tree.
During the interview process that day, Wiley refused to answer questions without his lawyer. Brooks, on the other hand, spoke freely.
Jacqueline Brooks
She said Wiley and her drove to Tulsa to see his father who was dying of cancer. She said the vehicle they were driving was a black Honda they borrowed. She said as they were coming back to Wichita, she took the wrong turn on 96th Road near Braman, Okla. The vehicle got stuck in the mud and she said it ‘blew up and burned to the ground’ at around 2 a.m. the previous night.
Brooks said they were checked out and sent to the Kanza Traveling Center where they were dropped off. They stayed in the traveling center until they found a vehicle to drive.
She said during the car chase, that she didn’t know for sure that the car was stolen as he got into the vehicle first. She just wanted to get home. She also didn’t know if the gun that was in Wiley’s possession in the car was his or not. She did not remember him having a gun on him before the car chase. When there were shots, she didn’t know if Wiley was shooting the gun or she was being shot at. However, in a subsequent interview a day later, Brooks said Wiley shot the guns in the air to scare off those following them.
Wiley pled guilty to all five felony charges in a plea bargain agreement. As a result, the state will recommend leniency in the sentencing of each count, and the counts are to run concurrently instead of consecutively thus reducing the time of imprisonment. He has been convicted of a felony for a 2017 burglary of a non-dwelling on July 24, 2019 in Butler County, thus he should have never had the gun in the first place.
He is currently in Sumner County Jail unable to post the $210,000 bond.
