A sharp-eyed Leitchfield officer spotted a vehicle “wanted in connection to a theft complaint,” leading to the seizure of drugs and burglary tools and the capture of a wanted felon.
The incident began Saturday morning just after midnight when Leitchfield Police Officer Wally Ritter recognized a vehicle being driven on South English Street by 32-year-old James C. Armes, of Leitchfield, as being “wanted in connection to a theft complaint,” according to the arrest citation.
The vehicle drifted over the center line “a couple of times,” with Ritter conducting a traffic stop on the 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe, the citation states.
Upon making contact with Armes, police discovered he did not have a valid insurance card.
The passenger, later identified as 26-year-old Christopher R. Nix, of Harned, had a knife in his lap and refused to identify himself, police said.
After being told to, according to the citation, “set his hands on his head” so Ritter could retrieve the knife, Nix, who was also talking on a cellphone, grabbed the weapon and placed it on the dash.
Both Armes and Nix were told to exit the vehicle, where police observed “multiple bulges in (Nix’s) pockets.”
When asked what was in his pockets, Nix responded that he had another knife. Ritter asked Nix not to touch the knife, but Nix removed the weapon from his pocket anyway.
As Ritter patted Nix down, he felt syringes in Nix’s pocket. As the officer cuffed Nix, the suspect “attempted to run off.”
Following a struggle between Nix, Ritter and Leitchfield PD Sgt. Chuck Hoover, Nix began to comply when Ritter threatened him with his taser.
During a search of Nix, police found a “loaded syringe” containing suspected methamphetamine and fake U.S. currency (motion picture money) in his back pocket, according to the citation.
A backpack that sat at Nix’s feet contained a large knife, a monocular (single-eye telescope), a black boggin (head cover) and a hammer. In the backseat were several power tools that were “blacked out,” including a “Dewalt tool with a cutting wheel,” the citation says.
During a search of Armes, police found a bag of methamphetamine.
Neither Armes nor Nix would identify Nix, as he had multiple warrants for his arrest and absconded from parole after being convicted in Breckinridge County in April 2022 for second-degree assault and kidnapping, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.
Nix, though, while being transported to jail told Ritter his name.
Armes was charged with possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of burglary tools, hindering prosecution/apprehension, careless driving, possession of drug paraphernalia, and failure to produce an insurance card.
Nix was charged with possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), resisting arrest, second-degree criminal possession of a forge instrument, possession of burglary tools, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Nix was also served with a parole violation warrant, and a warrant charging him with second-degree assault out of Grayson County, along with a failure to appear warrant out of Breckinridge County.
He is on probation until April 2026.
Both suspects were lodged in the Grayson County Detention Center.
The Grayson County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
