FAYETTE COUNTY — A 39-year-old Millstadt man is accused in Fayette County Court of allegedly stealing a car Sunday night in Vandalia that had a toddler inside and then taking police on a high-speed pursuit on the interstate.

According to Vandalia police, an officer observed a subject he knew as Scott Harper driving a grey car on Kennedy Boulevard in Vandalia and believed the vehicle was stolen.

Vandalia dispatch advised a vehicle was stolen from the parking lot of the Circle K Convenience Store and there was a 2-year-old child inside the car.

The officer reportedly activated his patrol lights and Harper allegedly began to drive erratically fast before entering Interstate 70 with two officers in pursuit.

The report says they were traveling eastbound on I-70 at high rates of speed reaching up to 120 miles per hour in a construction zone.

The report says that Harper then began to slow rapidly and turned off of the interstate at the Brownstown weigh station where officers were able to block the vehicle and pull Harper from the driver’s seat.

During the process of being handcuffed, Harper was reportedly resisting officers and sustained cuts to his knuckles and right arm.

The child was then rescued from the vehicle and was first checked by Vandalia Police and Rural Med EMS, before being reunited with their father.

Harper was reportedly unable to appear in person or via Zoom Monday in Fayette County Court Monday for arraignment on charges of felony kidnapping, aggravated battery-peace officer, and theft of a vehicle, along with misdemeanor reckless conduct, and resisting a peace officer.