Crane Man On The Run For Burglary Hurts Deputies, School Enters Security Mode
Suspect Taken Into Custody Tuesday Morning
September 13, 2018
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Isaac Estes-Jones
Jordan Connelly, who ran from authorities, injuring three members of the Stone County Sheriff’s Office last week, was taken into custody on Tuesday, September 11.
Initial contact in Crane
On Thursday, September 6, detectives and deputies went to one of the Green Oaks Apartments in Crane while looking for a burglary suspect, Jordan A. Connelly, 25, of Crane, who had active warrants.
Samantha B. Asbell, 22, of Crane, was contacted at the apartment. According to a probable cause statement, the reason for the visit was to check on the wellbeing of the people in the apartment after reports that two people were in and out of consciousness due to drug use. A press release from the Sheriff’s Office indicates that the officers had information that Connelly was also on the premises.
While the detectives were speaking with Asbell, they specifically asked if Connelly was there. She allegedly told them no.
Connelly runs
While the detectives were determining if emergency services needed to be called for the two people who were allegedly on drugs, Connelly reportedly emerged from an upstairs room, ran down the stairs and knocked Detective Windham to the ground.
According to the cause statement from Asbell’s case, Detective Windham grabbed onto Connelly, but he resisted her and made his way to the door. When he reached a side door and could not get free of Windham, Connelly allegedly slammed the door on her arm, causing her to lose her grip on him. He allegedly then ran away, injuring two other officers in the course of evading arrest. The injured officers received moderate injuries.
There were witness reports that Connelly had a weapon, but according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement was not able to confirm whether or not that was true.
School enters secure mode
The Sheriff’s Office contacted Crane R-III school to recommend the school enter lock-down as a precaution. Green Oaks Apartments is located approximately one quarter of a mile from the school. The school was never in any direct danger, but with Connelly’s whereabouts unknown, school officials determined that a modified lock-down would be the correct course of action.
Dr. Chris Johnson, Crane Schools Superintendent, was in Springfield visiting with the student who was injured in Wednesday’s bus collision when she got the call. “The principals had already been notified and the school went into the secure mode. I left immediately to return to school,” Johnson said.
Learning was not disrupted, according to the school, but all doors were locked and no one was allowed to enter or leave the building until the regular end of the school day.
Modified Release
When Johnson got into town, she met with the Crane Police Department and Stone County Sheriff’s office. “They could not say for sure if he was out of the area. There are drop-off points for our in-town kids in that area, where students then have to walk a few blocks. At around 2:30 p.m., I made the decision to do a modified release,” she said.
At the end of a typical school day, students are released from their classes and those that ride the bus enter the bus loop, going wherever necessary to get to the bus they take home. “I didn’t want the chaos of the usual bus loop, I just wanted to keep it more close knit and safer,” Johnson said.
Students were kept inside the school and gathered into groups based on what bus they ride. Once all of the students for bus #1 were together, they were escorted to the bus, loaded, and the bus was released. That same process was repeated for every bus after that.
The school used the automated Lumen system to contact most parents to inform them of the modified release. However, for students that would have had to walk through the area where Connelly may have been hiding, the school made personal phone calls to all of those parents. “I’m really happy with how everyone came together to make sure the students were safe,” Johnson said. “Most of the parents were able to come pick up their kids, so we just held them until the parents got there,” she continued, “There was one group of kids where their big brother was home but didn’t have a car. We took that set of kids home ourselves.”
“It may have been over-kill to do all of this, but I would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to our students,” Johnson said.
Search warrant served at the apartment
Later in the afternoon of Thursday, September 6, Sheriff’s deputies returned to Asbell’s apartment at Green Oaks to execute a search warrant after observing drug items during their earlier contact, according to the probable cause statement.
The search allegedly produced various drug paraphernalia, and pipes. Further, officers allegedly found several unspecified pills on the floor of the living room, within reach of a child that was residing in the apartment.
Samantha Asbell was placed under arrest. She is charged with misdemeanor unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, the Class D felony of endangering the welfare of a child, and the Class E felony of hindering the prosecution of a felony. She is being held in the Stone County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash or surety bond.
Search continues & Connelly taken into custody
The Stone County Sheriff’s office continued to search for Connelly after Thursday and throughout the weekend.
The Sheriff released information about Connelly and shared a past mug shot and a photo from Connelly’s Facebook page with the media and on the Sheriff’s Facebook page.
Reports indicate that Connelly was seen in Crane and surrounding areas throughout the weekend.
The morning of Tuesday, September 11, Connelly was located and taken into custody without issue.
Chief Deputy Tim Gideon, of the Stone County Sheriff’s Office reports that Connelly “came right out” this morning. Deputies got information Jordan was hiding in a residence off Dares Road outside of Hurley. When they arrived on scene, they made contact with the homeowner who went back inside and brought Jordan out to them. Jordan was then apprehended with no issue.
According to online records, Connelly was booked into the Stone County Jail at approximately 8:30 a.m. where he is being held in lieu of a combined bond of $120,000 cash or surety. Connelly is charged with stealing a motor vehicle in Barry County on a warrant from August 20. The bond for that charge is $20,000.
In Stone County, Connelly is charged with third degree assault on a special victim and resisting arrest by fleeing creating a substantial risk of injury. He is being held on $100,000 bond for those charges.
Online court records also indicate that Jordan Connelly has a criminal summons for Class A misdemeanor stealing in Stone County.
Jordan Connelly, who ran from authorities, injuring three members of the Stone County Sheriff’s Office last week, was taken into custody on Tuesday, September 11.
Initial contact in Crane
On Thursday, September 6, detectives and deputies went to one of the Green Oaks Apartments in Crane while looking for a burglary suspect, Jordan A. Connelly, 25, of Crane, who had active warrants.
Samantha B. Asbell, 22, of Crane, was contacted at the apartment. According to a probable cause statement, the reason for the visit was to check on the wellbeing of the people in the apartment after reports that two people were in and out of consciousness due to drug use. A press release from the Sheriff’s Office indicates that the officers had information that Connelly was also on the premises.
While the detectives were speaking with Asbell, they specifically asked if Connelly was there. She allegedly told them no.
Connelly runs
While the detectives were determining if emergency services needed to be called for the two people who were allegedly on drugs, Connelly reportedly emerged from an upstairs room, ran down the stairs and knocked Detective Windham to the ground.
According to the cause statement from Asbell’s case, Detective Windham grabbed onto Connelly, but he resisted her and made his way to the door. When he reached a side door and could not get free of Windham, Connelly allegedly slammed the door on her arm, causing her to lose her grip on him. He allegedly then ran away, injuring two other officers in the course of evading arrest. The injured officers received moderate injuries.
There were witness reports that Connelly had a weapon, but according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement was not able to confirm whether or not that was true.
School enters secure mode
The Sheriff’s Office contacted Crane R-III school to recommend the school enter lock-down as a precaution. Green Oaks Apartments is located approximately one quarter of a mile from the school. The school was never in any direct danger, but with Connelly’s whereabouts unknown, school officials determined that a modified lock-down would be the correct course of action.
Dr. Chris Johnson, Crane Schools Superintendent, was in Springfield visiting with the student who was injured in Wednesday’s bus collision when she got the call. “The principals had already been notified and the school went into the secure mode. I left immediately to return to school,” Johnson said.
Learning was not disrupted, according to the school, but all doors were locked and no one was allowed to enter or leave the building until the regular end of the school day.
Modified Release
When Johnson got into town, she met with the Crane Police Department and Stone County Sheriff’s office. “They could not say for sure if he was out of the area. There are drop-off points for our in-town kids in that area, where students then have to walk a few blocks. At around 2:30 p.m., I made the decision to do a modified release,” she said.
At the end of a typical school day, students are released from their classes and those that ride the bus enter the bus loop, going wherever necessary to get to the bus they take home. “I didn’t want the chaos of the usual bus loop, I just wanted to keep it more close knit and safer,” Johnson said.
Students were kept inside the school and gathered into groups based on what bus they ride. Once all of the students for bus #1 were together, they were escorted to the bus, loaded, and the bus was released. That same process was repeated for every bus after that.
The school used the automated Lumen system to contact most parents to inform them of the modified release. However, for students that would have had to walk through the area where Connelly may have been hiding, the school made personal phone calls to all of those parents. “I’m really happy with how everyone came together to make sure the students were safe,” Johnson said. “Most of the parents were able to come pick up their kids, so we just held them until the parents got there,” she continued, “There was one group of kids where their big brother was home but didn’t have a car. We took that set of kids home ourselves.”
“It may have been over-kill to do all of this, but I would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to our students,” Johnson said.
Search warrant served at the apartment
Later in the afternoon of Thursday, September 6, Sheriff’s deputies returned to Asbell’s apartment at Green Oaks to execute a search warrant after observing drug items during their earlier contact, according to the probable cause statement.
The search allegedly produced various drug paraphernalia, and pipes. Further, officers allegedly found several unspecified pills on the floor of the living room, within reach of a child that was residing in the apartment.
Samantha Asbell was placed under arrest. She is charged with misdemeanor unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, the Class D felony of endangering the welfare of a child, and the Class E felony of hindering the prosecution of a felony. She is being held in the Stone County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash or surety bond.
Search continues & Connelly taken into custody
The Stone County Sheriff’s office continued to search for Connelly after Thursday and throughout the weekend.
The Sheriff released information about Connelly and shared a past mug shot and a photo from Connelly’s Facebook page with the media and on the Sheriff’s Facebook page.
Reports indicate that Connelly was seen in Crane and surrounding areas throughout the weekend.
The morning of Tuesday, September 11, Connelly was located and taken into custody without issue.
Chief Deputy Tim Gideon, of the Stone County Sheriff’s Office reports that Connelly “came right out” this morning. Deputies got information Jordan was hiding in a residence off Dares Road outside of Hurley. When they arrived on scene, they made contact with the homeowner who went back inside and brought Jordan out to them. Jordan was then apprehended with no issue.
According to online records, Connelly was booked into the Stone County Jail at approximately 8:30 a.m. where he is being held in lieu of a combined bond of $120,000 cash or surety. Connelly is charged with stealing a motor vehicle in Barry County on a warrant from August 20. The bond for that charge is $20,000.
In Stone County, Connelly is charged with third degree assault on a special victim and resisting arrest by fleeing creating a substantial risk of injury. He is being held on $100,000 bond for those charges.
Online court records also indicate that Jordan Connelly has a criminal summons for Class A misdemeanor stealing in Stone County.