At 10:08 a.m. an AppStateALERT was sent to students that stated, “Sheriff’s Department is attempting to locate a suspect who fled on foot. The individual is a white male wearing a blue jacket and handcuffs. Last seen around Howard St. and may be around campus. Police are in the area attempting to locate.”
When reached for additional information at 10:47 a.m., the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office said that the matter was now under the jurisdiction of the Boone Police Department.
However, shortly before 11 a.m., the suspect was apprehended by WCSD.
Capt. Kelly Redmon was on the scene and gave a detailed report.
“The suspect was placed under arrest at Watauga County Courthouse due to an outstanding child support warrant from Mitchell County, N.C.,” Redmon said.
Redmon said that the suspect is Derrick S. Cantor, a 24-year-old male from Boone. The initial arresting officer was Sgt. Toby Ragan.
“[Ragan] placed the second cuff on him when the suspect fled on foot to [the corner of Water Street and River Street],” Redmon said.
The building located there is the former location of Southern States Farm Equipment Supplier.
“Across the road from here is a culvert that runs underneath the road, and the suspect went in to the culvert and secreted himself in there,” Redmon said.
The culvert cuts underneath the road from the Southern States building to the adjacent parking lot.
“They found him inside [the culvert] and brought him out, wet and cold; had the medics come by to check him, and he’s elected to go to the hospital first to get checked out. After that, the warrants will be served on him for the child support and probably an additional charge of resisting arrest,” Redmon said. “But he’s safe, the officers are safe, everybody in the community is safe so we’re very happy. And we’re really tickled about our sister agency, the Boone PD, did a wonderful job helping us. Boone Fire [Department] was on the scene to provide some technical expertise about the drain system. So, that’s what we want, for everybody to be safe.”
“I appreciate everybody kind of staying out of our way and letting us do our work. Everything is back to normal and I hope everybody has a safe Halloween,” Redmon said.
On the topic of the ease of finding suspects on Halloween, Redmon said, “It’s not necessarily a bad day, it’s a fun day. People just gotta be safe.”
Story by: Dylan Austin, News Reporter
Photo by: Dylan Austin, News Reporter