Arkansas Inmate on Crime Spree Steals Cop's Gun, Shoots His Dog
May 7, 2012— -- An inmate who escaped from custody three days ago is on a crime spree in Pocahontas, Ark., where police say he stole an officer's gun, threatened the cop's wife and shot his dog.
James Lundry, 39, who was being held on felony charges of improperly using food stamps, escaped from a work detail with other inmates during a lunch break of Friday, stealing a vehicle and heading to Pocahontas, according to Police Chief Cecil Tackett.
Since Friday, police and civilians have had multiple run-ins with Lundry, who has previously been arrested multiple times in Pocahontas on misdemeanor charges. Lundry is now considered armed and very dangerous, Tackett said.
On Sunday, a caretaker of an abandoned house in the town found Lundry squatting inside, and told police it seemed he had been there for a couple of days. Police used scent-tracking dogs to follow Lundry's path from a back window to a parked vehicle. Police believe he entered the vehicle and left, leaving behind stolen items.
Around 11 p.m. Sunday night, Lundry entered the home of a police officer who was on duty elsewhere in the town, and took a .40 caliber Glock pistol, ammunition, and a tactical ballistics vest, Tackett said. He then confronted the officer's wife at the house, and brandished the gun at her before firing three rounds into and killing the couple's pet Pit Bull.
Lundry escaped using a vehicle he had stolen at a local funeral home, police said.
A helicopter with heat-seeking technology and scent dogs on the ground were used last night to track Lundry after he fled the officer's house. But the helicopter was forced to land after only minutes because of weather problems, Tackett said.
Police are searching abandoned properties and guarding parts of the 6,700-person town in preparation for an expected run-in tonight, Tackett noted.
"I believe he's in the area. He may not be in the city, but he's in the area, I expect we'll hear from him again tonight," he said.
Lundry is 5'11, weighs 140 pounds, and has multiple tattoos on both of his arms and a teardrop tattoo below his right eye. Police are searching for a Pontiac Montana minivan that he may be driving.
Lundry now faces a bevy of felony charges from the crime spree, Tackett said.
