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LAFAYETTE COUNTY, Mo. — Tuesday began like any other day for a Missouri Highway Patrol trooper, but things quickly escalated during a traffic stop. The trooper stopped a driver along eastbound Interstate 70 near Higginsville. What happened next has the driver facing assault charges and other related allegations.

“That guy was just fighting and screaming, fighting and screaming, he just kept resisting, kept resisting, kept resisting,” said Charles Barney, a good Samaritan who helped the Trooper Beau Ryun.

Jonathan Timmons
Jonathan Timmons

Trooper Ryun said his radio quit working as he fought to arrest the man he stopped, 22-year-old Johnathan Timmons. The radio malfunction left him unable contact dispatchers at headquarters in Lee’s Summit to let them know he needed help.

“One of the best feelings of my life was seeing them showing up to help me,” said Trooper Ryun.

That help came from 38-year-old Barney. He said he was headed to a funeral Tuesday morning when he saw Trooper Ryun struggling with a man on the side of I-70

“Happened to see lights on the side of the road, and my fiancé told me that there was an officer fighting a guy on the ground,” Barney added.

Barney said he decided to stop and see if he could help.

“I noticed the cops arms were just shaking, so he needed to call for backup, so I got on the mic, and told them I was helping this officer, he needed help ASAP,” Barney said.

Trooper Ryun said he definitely needed help after stopping Timmons.

“He was overly nervous, and I smelled the odor of marijuana,” added Trooper Ryan.

Trooper Ryun said he asked Timmons to step outside and walk to his patrol car. The trooper tried to pat Timmons down to see if he had any weapons and attempted to put him in handcuffs when he began resisting.

“We began fighting on the side of the interstate,” he said.

Trooper Ryun said he was hoping someone driving by would call 911. Luckily, Barney and another woman stopped to help.

“I said, I`m a pedestrian, do you need some help? And he was like, yes please, I need my handcuffs,” Barney said.

Barney said he did what he could.

“I finally just grabbed his arm and bent it back over his head, and I told him, I said man, if you don`t stop, I`ll break it,” added Barney.

Eventually officers started showing up, Timmons finally gave up, and Trooper Ryun and Barney got him handcuffed. Trooper Ryun said he found out later that Higginsville police and the Lafayette County Sheriffs Department received several 911 calls reporting the fight.

“I`m just extremely grateful for them stopping, and all the people that called and reported the altercation because you were my lifeline to Troop A,” said Ryun.

Trooper Ryun said he plans to submit the names of the two people who stopped so they can be publicly recognized for helping him.

Timmons faces second degree assault, attempt to disarm a law enforcement officer, third degree assault, felony resisting, possession of up to 35 grams of marijuana, and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. On Wednesday night he was behind bars in the Lafayette County Jail on a 24-hour hold.