A man who stole a Cowley County sheriff’s deputy’s vehicle late Wednesday night and ditched it between Greens Farm Road (71st Road) and the U.S. 77 bypass is now in custody, the sheriff said.
Derek Matthew Shrewsberry, 26, of Arkansas City, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of probation violation, aggravated escape from custody, felony theft, criminal carrying of a weapon, driving with a canceled or suspended driver’s license and other traffic violations.
Shrewsberry also was wanted on an Arkansas City Municipal Court warrant for failure to appear, Sheriff Don Read said in a sheriff’s office activity report Thursday morning.
Wednesday’s incident began when deputies stopped a vehicle for a speeding violation in the 21000 block of U.S. 77, north of Ark City.
After further investigation, the passenger in the back seat was identified as Shrewsberry, for whom a deputy knew there was an active warrant for probation violation with no bond.
The deputy also observed drug paraphernalia in the back seat.
He then instructed Shrewsberry to exit the vehicle and placed him under arrest for that warrant.
Shrewsberry was handcuffed behind his back, placed in the deputy’s patrol car and buckled in. The deputy then returned to the stopped vehicle and explained to the driver what he had observed.
As the deputy was removing the front passenger, he saw his patrol vehicle backing up and yelled for Shrewsberry to stop, but Shrewsberry left in the patrol vehicle.
Approximately 6 miles south of the original stop location, the suspect passed another deputy responding to the area.
That deputy turned around, and the suspect abandoned the patrol vehicle in gear and fled on foot near the U.S. 77 bypass.
The patrol vehicle suffered minor cosmetic damage on the passenger side of the vehicle after striking a T-post.
A search of the area by deputies, the Arkansas City Police Department, the Cowley County Trackers and a K-9 unit from Sumner County could not locate Shrewsberry.
The search was discontinued about 3 a.m. Thursday.
The Arkansas City Police Department, acting on information it had received, arrested Shrewsberry about 10 a.m. in Arkansas City.
He was being transported to the Cowley County Jail as the activity report was being prepared.
The driver of the originally stopped vehicle, Lakisha Marie Kemp, 22, of Winfield, was arrested for driving with a canceled or suspended driver’s license and no insurance.
The front passenger, Joseph Wayne Fann, 30, of Winfield, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, no drug tax stamp and possession of drug-use paraphernalia.
Both suspects remained in custody in lieu of bond through Cowley County District Court in Winfield at the time of this report — Fann on $7,000 bond and Kemp on $500 bond.