HENRY
COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
NEWS
RELEASE
Monday,
October 28, 2013
Suspects
arrested in string of burglaries
According to Henry
County Sheriff J. Kent Oberkrom, Deputy Brady Graham responded to the
area of SE 1051 and SE 800 road shortly after 3:00 a.m. on October
28, 2013 on a reported theft of a small utility trailer from a
residence in that area. The reporting party advised that the suspect
vehicle was still in the area as the road has only one exit and the
neighborhood residents had the road blocked, awaiting law enforcement
arrival.
At the scene, Deputy
Graham located a pick-up truck with Kansas license plates, parked in
a yard just east of SE 1051 road with no one around it. A search of
the area by Deputy Graham and Sheriff Oberkrom did not discover
anyone responsible for the vehicle. While processing the vehicle for
evidence, another citizen contacted central dispatch and reported a
large pile of tools and equipment just north of where the vehicle was
parked. The stolen trailer with an ATV on it was found on SE 800,
about 1 mile east of where the vehicle was parked.
After processing the
truck, residents in the area reported that a truck had just been
stolen in the 900 block of SE 1051. Cpl. Tim Eaton, who was
responding to the area to assist, saw the stolen vehicle and
attempted a traffic stop on Hwy Z near SE 1231. The stolen vehicle
initially stopped, but when Cpl. Eaton ordered the driver to exit the
vehicle, the driver accelerated and fled northbound on SE 1231 road.
About a mile north of Hwy Z, the suspect vehicle turned into a
driveway, drove through a yard and exited back southbound on SE 1231,
towards Hwy Z. Sheriff Oberkrom attempted to block the roadway, but
the suspect vehicle attempted to strike Sheriff Oberkrom’s patrol
vehicle and subsequently went around him and traveled back onto Hwy
Z, headed westbound.
The driver continued to
fail to yield to Sheriff Oberkrom and Cpl. Eaton, traveling west on
Hwy Z. In the 500 block of SE Hwy Z, Major Rob Hills deployed his
tire deflation devices and successfully punctured both of the driver
side tires. The driver continued about two miles, driving for some
distance on the rims. Deputy Lee Hilty attempted to block the
roadway and the driver attempted to strike Hilty’s patrol vehicle.
The driver then continued until he turned into a private drive. The
vehicle came to a stop near the residence and the male driver exited
and surrendered without further incident. He was identified as Jerry
Lee Sport, age 32, Kansas City, Kansas.
Back at the
intersection of SE 1051 and SE 800, a male and a female subject
walked out from behind the residence where the suspect vehicle had
been discovered earlier in the morning. Both subjects were taken
into custody for investigation of burglary in the second degree.
They were identified as Thomas Fordyce, age 30, Kansas City, Kansas
and Heather A. Wohler, age 32, Kansas City, Kansas. Fordyce also had
probation violation warrants from the State of Kansas.
A canvass of the area
by Sheriff Oberkrom, Deputy Chase Jackson and Cpl. Tim Eaton,
revealed that several homes had been burglarized.
