A man riding an ATV with no license plates near St. Charles police headquarters took off at high speed rather than stop for an officer, touching off a chase that ended with the vehicle crashed into a tree line at a mobile home park and two frightened passengers taken in for questioning. Nicholas Delp now faces multiple felony charges, including tampering with a motor vehicle and aggravated fleeing, in connection with the incident.
According to First Alert 4, a St. Charles police officer spotted Delp riding the ATV near Zumbehl Road and Missouri Route 94 — a stretch of road that sits directly in front of the department's own headquarters at 1781 Zumbehl Road, according to prior Hoodline reporting. The officer tried to stop Delp because the ATV had no plates, but instead of pulling over, Delp allegedly sped off northbound on Zumbehl Road at a high rate of speed, according to the outlet's report.
What followed, per the same account, was a reckless dash through St. Charles streets. Delp allegedly failed to stay in his lane, drove on the wrong side of the road, and ran a red light while trying to outrun the officer. The chase ended when the ATV became disabled after Delp drove it into a tree line at a mobile home park, the outlet reported.
Two Women Say They Feared for Their Lives
Delp was not alone on the ATV. Two women were riding as passengers during the pursuit, and both later identified him as the driver, the report states. Both women told police they were scared for their lives while on the ATV, and one woman said Delp refused to let her off when she asked.
After the crash, officers tracked Delp to a residence, where he allegedly barricaded the door rather than surrender. Officers breached the door to take him into custody, per the report. The two women were taken into custody separately for questioning, though the article does not indicate they face charges.
ATV Traced to a Cottleville Storage Unit
A law enforcement database inquiry showed the ATV had been stolen out of Cottleville, according to the report. Investigators later executed a search warrant at a storage unit connected to Delp and recovered three stolen dirt bikes in addition to the ATV, which police say he also stole from a storage unit.
The theft in Cottleville and the chase through St. Charles reflect the kind of cross-jurisdiction property crime that St. Charles County agencies have increasingly worked to track together. The county's police departments expanded multi-agency data sharing and license-plate reader technology in May, according to KMOV, specifically to monitor stolen property and vehicles moving between cities. St. Charles, Cottleville, and St. Peters police have also coordinated directly before; a joint six-hour traffic operation among the three departments last November produced 343 citations and five arrests, according to earlier Hoodline coverage.
Felony Charges Reflect Missouri's Tougher Fleeing Law
Delp faces several charges, including aggravated fleeing a stop or detention, resisting arrest while creating a risk of serious injury or death, and first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, according to First Alert 4. He is currently held on a $25,000 bond, the outlet reported.
The aggravated fleeing charge stems from Missouri's Valentine's Law, which took effect in August 2024 and reclassified fleeing a stop that creates a substantial risk of serious injury or death as a Class D felony, according to the Revised Statutes of Missouri. Before the law changed, fleeing from police in Missouri was generally treated as a misdemeanor. Lawmakers passed the measure in memory of St. Louis County Police Detective Antonio Valentine, who died in the line of duty in 2021, after reports that St. Louis County officers alone handled roughly 3,000 fleeing incidents in a single year, according to KBIA.
The resisting arrest charge similarly hinges on Missouri Revised Statutes § 575.150, which elevates the offense from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony when a person flees in a vehicle in a way that creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury or death, according to the Patterson Legal Group. Separately, the tampering charge falls under § 569.080, which makes first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle a Class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison for knowingly possessing or operating a vehicle without the owner's consent, per the Hartley Law Firm. Prosecutors are not required to prove Delp personally stole the ATV — only that he operated or possessed it without permission.
Operating the ATV on Zumbehl Road in the first place was also its own violation. Missouri Revised Statutes § 304.013 bars ATVs from public highways and city or county roads statewide, with narrow exceptions for government use, farming, or special municipal permits, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. State law also caps permitted ATV travel at 30 mph and restricts how many passengers can be carried.
Parole and a Lengthy Record
First Alert 4 reports that Delp was on parole for two counts of second-degree burglary at the time of the alleged chase. The outlet also reports he has numerous prior misdemeanor and felony convictions tied to stealing, burglary, resisting arrest, property damage, domestic violence, and weapons offenses. It remains unclear how the new charges will affect his parole status.
The case also fits a broader pattern of stolen off-road vehicles turning up on public roads across the St. Louis region. Last September, St. Louis police pursued and arrested a driver operating a stolen off-road vehicle during a crackdown on street stunts, according to earlier Hoodline reporting, part of what regional law enforcement has described as an ongoing push against illegal ATV and dirt bike use on paved streets.
Several questions remain open as the case moves forward. It is not yet clear whether additional burglary charges will be filed over the Cottleville storage unit theft, what will happen with Delp's existing parole, or whether the two women who were riding on the ATV will face any charges or be called to testify.
