By RACHEL C. DVE
Staff Writer
HATFIELD, Ky. - A few short hours after the Saturday edition of the Daily News hit the stands and was delivered to homes containing the first of the “Mingo’s Wanted” articles slated to become a regular feature, one of the two fugitives wanted by the Williamson Police Department was arrested in Pike County.
The quick arrest was attributed to the public reading the newspaper article and phoning tips into the WPD as to the whereabouts of John Andrew Slone, 26, formerly of Williamson, who had been indicted in April by the Mingo County Grand Jury on one count of delivery of a Schedule I controlled substance and one count of delivery of a Schedule IV controlled substance.
WPD Chief C.D. Rockel had requested the indictment pertaining to Slone and that of Jerome “Oatmeal” Smith be unsealed to allow the two men’s names to be entered into the National Crime Information Center database, and he also wanted to be able to release the information to the public.
“Within an hour or two after the Daily News edition with the “Mingo’s Most Wanted” in it was for sell or delivered to their customers, calls began pouring into our department,” said Rockel. “After receiving information on the location where Slone was said to be, three of my officers joined Pike County Sheriff’s Deputy Billy McCoy and traveled to the residence at Hatfield where Slone was taken into custody without incident.”
Upon his arrest, the officers were informed that the fugitive also had outstanding warrants against him from Lawrence and Magoffin Counties for a failure to appear and a contempt of court charge stemming from citations issued for public intoxication and driving on a suspended license for reasons of DUI.
Slone is currently being held in the Pike County Detention Center in Pikeville, where he awaits extradition to Mingo County to face the drug related charges. If all goes as planned, Rockel said Slone would be picked up by his officers sometime today and will be arraigned in Circuit Court by Judge Michael Thornsbury upon his return.
“’Mingo’s Most Wanted’ is going to be a great thing for all law enforcement agencies in the county who choose to profile the pictures and information on suspects or fugitives they’re searching for , cases that have gone cold or those cases where there is little or no information pointing to who committed the crime,” said Rockel.
“The quick arrest of Slone is sure-fire proof that this works,” said the chief. “Our residents are ready to step up and help us and thanks to ‘Mingo’s Most Wanted’, we now have a way to get the information into their hands.”
Rockel and his officers are continuing their search for Jerome “Oatmeal” Smith. If anyone has information regarding this fugitive, you are asked to call the WPD at 304-235-2570. You can provide tips without disclosing your identity; the police are only interested in tips leading to his capture.
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