The Leitchfield man on the run from law enforcement for three weeks from late June to mid-July has been indicted by the Grayson County Grand Jury.
Grayson County Special Deputy Mark Stanton captured 28-year-old Walter Higgs at Dewey’s Trailer Park, in Caneyville, on July 19.
Higgs was wanted on six counts of wanton endangerment of a police officer, possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), reckless driving, and two counts of fleeing or evading police (in a motor vehicle, on foot), along with several non-moving violations related to a high-speed chase involving the Leitchfield Police Department and Grayson County Sheriff’s Office.
He was indicted on five counts of fleeing or evading police (motor vehicle), fleeing or evading police (of foot), possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), reckless driving, and being a persistent felony offender along with several non-moving violations.
Higgs, who already had two warrants for misdemeanor offenses in Breckinridge County, fled from authorities on Friday afternoon, June 29, at about noon after Leitchfield Police Officer Eugene Cain spotted Higgs driving 100 miles per hour on Dixie Avenue, a residential street in Leitchfield. The chase wound through other residential areas before making its way north on Brandenburg Road.
Several city and county police units were involved in the pursuit that turned off Brandenburg Road onto Hanging Rock Road. At one point in the chase, a female passenger, 28-year-old Bethany A. Hawkins, of Leitchfield, tossed what was later found to be a “drug kit” out of the window, according to police. The kit contained a syringe and methamphetamine.
(Hawkins was also indicted by the grand jury for tampering with physical evidence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was indicted as Higg’s co-defendant)
After turning onto Hanging Rock Road, Higgs turned onto a driveway, driving his vehicle off the end of the drive before stopping between a pond and wooded area. He fled into the woods.
About five hours later, Grayson County Central Dispatch received a 911 call from a residence on King Road stating that a man arrived at the home asking to use the phone. The man, who turned out to be Higgs, was behaving in a suspicious manner, had no shirt on and had cuts and scrapes all over his body.
When he left the King Road residence, Higgs walked across the street and was loitering around an empty mobile home. When police arrived, they searched for Higgs at the mobile home, and in the King and Childress Road areas, but without success.
He wasn’t seen again until the afternoon of July 19 at approximately 4:30 when Grayson County Central Dispatch received a tip that Higgs was at Dewey’s Trailer Park, in Caneyville.
Upon arriving at the trailer park, Stanton, who parked up the road and walked to near Higgs’ alleged location, spotted the fugitive. Stanton said he intended to await the arrival of GCSO Sgt. Fred Norder, who was en route, but as Stanton was watching Higgs he went underneath a vehicle he was working on.
With Higgs having limited space to make a getaway, Stanton approached the suspect, dropped a knee on him and grabbed Higgs’ leg as his upper body was underneath the vehicle. Stanton informed Higgs he was under arrest. He was taken into custody without incident and lodged in the Grayson County Detention Center. Norder soon arrived and assisted Stanton at the scene.
Higgs first fled from law enforcement just after 10:000 on the night of June 22 when Caneyville Constable Alvin Dockery attempted a traffic stop as Higgs was driving 50 miles per hour in a 35 zone. Dockery said when he activated his blue lights on Hwy 62 at the Caneyville city limits, Higgs immediately accelerated to nearly 100 miles per hour.
Dockery followed Higgs onto Kefauver Road but lost sight of the vehicle, a white Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Soon, Grayson County Deputy Kelsey Overton and Norder, along with Constable Marion Higgs, arrived in the area, with Norder locating the Monte Carlo parked on a farm access road, well off Kefauver Road.
Higgs is being held in the Grayson County Detention Center. Hawkins is not listed as an inmate at the facility.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
