Area Man Faces Felonies After Allegedly Fleeing Police In Stolen Semi Truck

ALTON – A man accused of using a stolen semi truck to flee police officers nine days after stealing an Alton School District truck faces charges in two Madison County cases.

Danny L. Cope III, 33, listed as homeless out of Alton, was charged on March 26, 2026 with one count of unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle (a Class 2 felony) and three counts of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer (each Class 4 felonies).

On March 25, 2026, Cope is accused of knowingly possessing a stolen Peterbilt 375 semi truck bearing an Indiana registration number and attempting to flee from a police officer who had signaled for Cope to stop the vehicle. His attempted flight from the officer reportedly exceeded 21 miles per hour above the legal speed limit, caused over $300 in property damage, and involved the disobedience of two or more traffic control devices.

A petition to deny Cope’s pretrial release from custody was filed by the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office, stating Cope “stole a semi truck, then fled from police into Missouri.”

“Video showed defendant steal the vehicle, and live dash camera showed him operating the vehicle during the flight,” the petition states. “He eventually crashed into a guard rail, disabling the vehicle and was taken into custody.”

The petition states Cope is a “danger and a flight risk” who was already on pretrial release from custody in multiple prior cases for which he has failed to appear in court.

Cope was also charged in a separate case filed on the same day in which he faces a Class 2 felony count of unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle and a Class 3 felony count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

Cope was reportedly knowingly in possession of a stolen Chevrolet GMT400 bearing an Illinois registration number on March 16, 2026 after allegedly being found in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine on Dec. 7, 2025.

A petition to keep Cope detained was also filed in this case, stating he was released from custody pending charges for the meth possession offense before the more recent stolen vehicle offense.

“Defendant was later implicated in a motor vehicle theft, where a School District truck was left parked at an industrial facility,” the petition states “Defendant was observed on LPRs [License Plate Recognition cameras] operating the vehicle. He was later located and found in possession of the key.”

The Metro East Auto Theft Task Force presented the case involving the stolen semi truck, while the Alton Police Department presented the case involving the stolen Alton School District truck. Cope was ordered remanded to jail for his initial court appearances in both cases.

All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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