HENRY COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE NEWS RELEASE Monday, October 28, 2013 Suspects arrested in string of burglaries

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.