BREAKING NEWS: Manhunt ends with 2 arrests
BY ANDY TAYLOR
A massive manhunt north of Sedan on Tuesday led to the arrest of two Kansas City, Kan., people.
Chautauqua County Sheriff Frank Green said Robert Lackner and Erin D. Fraser, both of Kansas City, remain in jail following their apprehension in a manhunt that involved a half dozen different law enforcement agencies in two states.
Events began on Monday when the two Kansas City people were noticed in Bartlesville, Okla., to be stealing two John Deere Gator vehicles and a trailer from a business in that city. Bartlesville Police Department officers began a pursuit of the two individuals, who traveled to Bartlesville in a stolen vehicle from Jefferson County, Kan.
Lackner and Fraser drove to Pawhuska, Okla., via U.S. 60 with law enforcement trailing close behind. The two people then traveled north to Kansas on K-99 highway.
The pursuit then led to Sedan where the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department and Sedan City Police joined the chase. Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Osage County Sheriff’s Department, and the Kansas Highway Patrol also were in pursuit.
The chase meandered through several neighborhoods before the couple abandoned the vehicle northwest of the Sedan High School baseball/softball field complex.
Green said Fraser was apprehended shortly after abandoning the vehicle, however Lackner entered a timber.
Special canines were used in the search for Fraser, and Green said a perimeter extended from Kansas Road to Quivira Road and Lariat Road was set up. Several dozen law enforcement officers than began combing the pastures and timber areas in search for Lackner. He was eventually spotted some 10 hours later in a densely wooded area, his body covered with chigger and tick bites.
Green said Lackner and Fraser were booked into the Chautauqua County Jail late Tuesday. Fraser was sent to the Cowley County Jail. Both people remain jailed on $100,000 bond each.
Green said he was still gathering information on the number of charges against the couple, however he said the list would be quite lengthy considering the number of crimes that they allegedly committed in four counties in Oklahoma and Kansas.