Laurel, MS - Handcuffed Felony Drug Suspect Steals Laurel Police Department Patrol Car - Abandoned Patrol Car - Escapes
May 16, 2010
By Eloria Newell James/ leadercall.com
The Laurel Police Department is looking for a man who reportedly
escaped from police custody by driving off in a patrol vehicle.
Sgt. Jim Thornhill with the Laurel Police Department said the incident occurred
around 10 p.m. Sunday night.
Thornhill said an officer stopped a red Toyota traveling northbound on
Interstate-59 around the Beacon Street exit.
According to police, the vehicle was being stopped for a traffic violation.
Thornhill said the officer then determined that the violation was an arrestable
offense, and took the driver – later identified as 53-year-old Davon Nolan –
into custody.
“He was placed in the back of a patrol car, handcuffed and secured,” the
sergeant explained. “While inventorying the vehicle, the officer discovered a
quantity of cocaine. ... While waiting on the wrecker to come, the suspect was
able to work the handcuffs to the front of him, climb to the front of the
vehicle and flee in the vehicle.”
Thornhill said Nolan reportedly headed northbound on I-59 in the patrol car.
Police reported that the suspect reportedly got to the Cook Avenue ramp, where
he abandoned the vehicle.
The K-9 officer on the scene with his K-9 “Gotti” reportedly pursued Nolan to
the Cook Avenue ramp.
“He abandoned the unit, jumped over the barricade and into the wooded area east
of the Interstate,” Thornhill explained. “Officers, along with the police dogs,
searched the area and have been unable to locate the suspect.”
Thornhill said Nolan remained at-large at press time.
“He is at-large, and we are looking for him,” Thornhill said. “He’s believed to
live in the Waynesboro area.”
Thornhill said Nolan is wanted on felony drug charges, grand larceny of an auto
charge.
According to officials, Nolan was currently on probation from the Mississippi
Department of Corrections.
Anyone with information concerning the incident or the whereabouts of Nolan can
call the Laurel Police Department’s investigation division at (601) 425-4711 or
Crimestoppers at 601-428-STOP.