Fugitive back in custody | Crime

After nearly two weeks on the run, a fugitive wanted by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office is back behind bars.

Stephan R. Whaples, 23, was arrested Monday afternoon in Izard County.

Whaples had been on the run since July 17, according to Sheriff John Montgomery, when he escaped from the Norfork police chief.

While investigating leads on Whaples’ whereabouts Monday, deputies found 27-year-old Gearl D. Adams.  After learning he was wanted on a Baxter County felony warrant, deputies arrested him. 

Sheriff Montgomery said from the arrest of Adams officers developed a lead on Whaples’ location.

Officers from the Izard County and Baxter County Sheriff’s Offices along with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and canine handlers from the Arkansas Department of Corrections found Whaples hiding in a camper behind a home in Pineville.  Sheriff Montgomery said Whaples “was surprised and quickly taken into custody without resistance.”

He’s being held in the Baxter County Detention Center without bond on multiple felony warrants and charges of fleeing, theft of property, breaking or entering, criminal trespass and reckless driving.  Additional charges are expected to be filed against him.

Photos provided by the Baxter County Sheriff's Office.