Drug suspect evades arrest
Trinity Standard , March 2007

GROVETON – A 48-year-old man wanted on drug charges evaded arrest by Trinity County sheriff’s deputies Saturday by fleeing into the woods in the Helmic area.
Jimmy Jones then managed to elude a 12-hour manhunt conducted by a small army of law enforcement officers – including those in a helicopter – in a wooded region located south of the Apple Springs community in northern Trinity County.
According to Chief Deputy Sheriff Jim Gratz of the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department, the incident began between 8 and 8:30 a.m. Saturday when Sheriff Jimmy Smith and Deputy Robert Moffett arrived at a Helmic residence to serve two Angelina County arrest warrants.
Gratz said the warrants charged Jones with the manufacture of a controlled substance.
“We had information that the suspect was staying at the residence of an acquaintance and the sheriff and Moffett were in the process of setting up to go in and make the arrest,” Gratz said.
Before they could move in, Gratz said the suspect came out of the residence and got into his vehicle.
“When he began to back out of the driveway, they pulled forward to block the exit with their patrol car,” Gratz said. “The suspect then put his vehicle into forward gear and drove through the yard into some nearby woods.
“When he reached the woods, he bailed out of the vehicle and fled on foot,” Gratz said.
The chief deputy said the officers then radioed for assistance and called the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to obtain tracking dogs.
Dog units from the Ellis and Estelle prison units near Riverside as well as a bloodhound from the Lewis Unit in Woodville came to the scene to assist with the hunt.
Also joining Trinity County deputies in the manhunt were deputies from Houston, Angelina and San Jacinto counties as well as officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety and a DPS helicopter.
 “The officers did not chase the suspect into the woods when he first fled because they did not want to mess up the trail for the dogs,” Gratz explained.
Instead, they began moving units to locations around the Helmic community in an effort to establish a perimeter and box in the suspect.
“We continued the search until about 8 p.m. Saturday night but he managed to elude us. I guess we didn’t get the perimeter set up quickly enough,” he said.
In addition to the two Angelina County warrants, Gratz said Jones will also be charged in Trinity County with felony evading arrest in a vehicle. The chief deputy added that Jones also has another manufacture of a controlled substance charge pending in another county.
Gratz said Jones is believed to be armed and should be considered dangerous. Anyone who sees him is cautioned not to try and detain him but to notify local law enforcement as quickly as possible.
The Trinity County Sheriff’s Department can be contacted at (936) 642-1424. Information also can be passed anonymously through the Trinity County Crime Stoppers Inc. at 642-2334.
Jones is described as being 5 feet, eight inches tall and weighing about 155 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes. He has a slim build and a medium complexion with shoulder length hair and a moustache. He was last seen wearing a blue jean jacket, blue jean pants and cowboy boots.