A man wanted in connection with a shooting in Odessa, Missouri was taken into custody Thursday morning after ramming a sheriff's deputy's patrol car and leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase before ending in a foot pursuit in Lee's Summit. The 36-year-old Brendan Freed of Bates City was taken into custody just after 8:30 a.m., closing out a dramatic morning involving the Odessa shooting.
According to KCTV, Freed was wanted in connection with a shooting in Odessa. Freed lives in Bates City, the station reports.
A License Plate Camera Cracks the Case
The break in the search involved a Flock Safety camera. Those cameras capture a broad swath of vehicle data and track plates they can read. When Cass County deputies located the vehicle in Peculiar and attempted a traffic stop, Freed rammed his vehicle into a deputy's patrol car before speeding off, the station's report states.
Freed then fled northbound at high speed onto Interstate 49, according to the same account. The pursuit ended in Lee's Summit, where Freed crashed his vehicle and was caught after a brief foot chase, per the report. The account mentions Odessa, Peculiar, and Lee's Summit in connection with the case.
Surveillance Technology Under Fresh Scrutiny
The role that license plate readers played in tracking down Freed comes at a pointed moment for the technology across the region. Flock Safety rolled out policy changes on August 13 that shortened its default data retention to seven days and added mandatory search audits, according to StateScoop. Use of the automated cameras has expanded nationally in recent years, the outlet notes.
Pursuits near Peculiar have occurred in Cass County. In March 2022, deputies used tire deflation devices to stop suspects fleeing at high speed near Peculiar, according to the Raymore Journal and News. Violent crimes that unfold along major highway corridors in western Missouri can draw coordinated responses across county lines.
Details about the original shooting in Odessa, including the condition of any victim, have not been released. It also remains unclear what specific charges Freed will face in Cass and Lafayette counties, or whether any deputies or bystanders were injured when Freed rammed the patrol car or crashed his vehicle in Lee's Summit. Those questions remain open as the investigation continues.
