SOUTHAVEN, MS (abc24.com) - Stolen weapons, a suspect on the loose and a three hour manhunt. It happened in Southaven early Thursday morning.
Police and sheriff's deputies were hot on the trail of a car burglar who stole two rifles. Officers got the call around 5 a.m. Their search spread out over five miles before a Southaven cop and his K-9 caught the burglar.
Southaven resident Janice Hughes told abc24.com, "It was real scary when I woke up and I thought, 'There goes the neighborhood.'" Hughes' usually quiet street was a flurry of activity.
"There were police cars lined up," she said. All the officers were tracking the reported car burglar.
"As people were waking up and going to work some would spot this individual," says Lt. Mark Little. "All descriptions were the same so we knew we were on the right track. The dogs tracked him and found him in the ditch."
Officers arrested Jarvius Smith right before 8 a.m.
"They got the wrong person," Smith said. A Southaven K-9 bit him on the arm when he refused to obey police.
"He failed to comply with orders of officers out there and was trying to get away from them," Little says.
Smith says he didn't take the weapons. "I didn't steal any weapons. I had drugs," he said as he was led handcuffed into the hospital for treatment.
Cops recovered the evidence.
"[The guns] were found a block down the road," says Little. "Obviously once police got onto him, he ditched what he had and continued to flee."
Little adds it's never a good idea to leave guns in your car overnight. "Any firearms you have in your car legally should be carried in at night and locked up in the home."
Smith is charged with auto burglary, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
