Officers were divided into several teams of 4 officers each, and they fanned out across the City of Clinton and surrounding communities attempting to locate and arrest individuals who had warrants for their arrest. They were supported by the Bates County S.W.A.T Team and a helicopter from the highway patrol.
More than 20 individuals were arrested on warrants and other charges. Several others were arrested, issued summonses and released or detained and released pending laboratory analysis of suspected drugs.
As the officers were attempting to locate the persons with warrants they came across other criminal activity in three separate locations. At the first location in the 300 block of West Franklin Street, as officers approached the house to contact the occupants, officers could clearly see a suspected methamphetamine pipe on a table and a woman trying to conceal it. A search warrant was obtained and several items of contraband were located and seized including a device designed to defeat observed urine sample collections.
At the second location in the 800 block of Munson in Clinton, officers knocked on the door and were met by an individual who admitted that he had a warrant for his arrest and that he had just finished smoking marijuana. Officers could also smell marijuana emanating from the house. A search warrant was issued for that location and officers located items of contraband.
At the third location, in the 200 block of South 4th Street in Clinton, officers were talking to an occupant who answered the door. That person denied that the person who the officers were seeking was present in the house, however a moment later the person with the warrant attempted to flee out a back door and was captured after a short chase. A search warrant was obtained and officers located several items of contraband including more than 50 grams of suspected methamphetamine that was packaged for resale. The householder was also arrested for hindering prosecution.
Thanks goes out to the officers participating and to Golden Valley Memorial Hospital for providing an ambulance and personnel and to the Henry County Joint Communications Center which provided communications support. Additional operations such as this are planned in the future.
