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| Updated: 10/23/2011 10:27 am |
Published: 10/23/2011 10:04 am |
MOUNTAIN HOME, AR - Authorities in Baxter County were busy Saturday with two separate manhunts which both originated from stolen vehicles.
According to police, Briarcliff City Officials discovered Friday morning that a service truck along with chainsaws, power washers and other items, was stolen from the city’s compound. Surveillance video showed two men broke into the maintenance yard by using bolt cutters around 2:15am.
Police say the mayor of Briarcliff spotted the stolen vehicle Saturday morning and radioed for assistance. During the chase that followed, authorities say the stolen vehicle drove off a steep embankment into the woods, crashing into a tree. Two men were seen fleeing into the woods.
Dogs and a search helicopter were called in to assist in the search. Johnny Lee, 37, was taken into custody without incident but the second suspect escaped into the woods.
While searching a home believed to be connected to the second suspect, investigators say they saw a car pull in the driveway then quickly leave. The Mountain Home Police Department reported that the vehicle was stolen.
After losing the vehicle in a high-speed chase, authorities called in the search helicopter, which was still assisting in the first manhunt, to help locate the car.
The spotter in the helicopter located the vehicle abandoned. The helicopter located the suspect hiding under a log and brush in some woods approximately 400 yards from the stolen vehicle. The helicopter guided police to the suspect, 41-year-old Thomas Blackmon, where he was taken into custody without incident.
Police are still looking for one suspect who has been identified as 22-year-old Travis Shane Adams. Adams is wanted by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office for numerous charges.
