Published: October 29, 2008 10:59 pm         

County K-9 unit destroyed following pursuit of suspect

A Garfield County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit was destroyed Wednesday night when it caught fire as deputies pursued a suspect who eluded capture.

Undersheriff Jerry Niles said deputies were performing stationary radar monitoring on East Southgate and stopped a mini-van for speeding 67 mph in a 45 mph zone.

As deputies interviewed the man, Kevin M. Watson, 47, of Kansas, they discovered an open container of beer and asked Watson to step out of his vehicle, Niles said. Watson drove off and deputies be-gan pursuit. Two deputies on an-other traffic stop joined the pursuit westbound on Southgate.

As Watson neared an active railroad crossing in the 300 block of West South-gate, Niles said he turned south onto a lease road and drove parallel to the train tracks until crashing the stolen van.

Watson fled from the crashed van on foot and deputies stopped their vehicles and pursued Watson on foot.

Niles said deputies then heard a “pop” and saw one of the patrol cars on fire. He said heat from the engine ignited grass and the flames engulfed the vehicle.

Enid and Waukomis fire departments responded to the scene and extinguished the fire as members of the Enid and Waukomis Police Departments set up a perimeter around the area with sheriff’s deputies, Niles said.

“We established a perimeter and conducted a three-hour search but did not locate the subject,” Niles said, noting officers ended their search about 2:30 a.m.

The sheriff’s office received a report of a stolen Kenworth dump truck about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday from a site near Wheat Capital and U.S. 81.

Niles said the sheriff’s office believes Watson stole the dump truck.

The van being driven by Watson was reported stolen from Wichita, Kan., where Watson recently was released from prison, Niles said. Watson has four outstanding felony warrants out of Topeka, Kan., and the sheriff’s office intends to file warrants for charges here of reckless driving, attempting to elude and possession go a stolen vehicle.

Niles said the K-9 unit destroyed, which also contained investigative equipment and K-9 training equipment, was a loss estimated at more than $25,000. He said he was contacting the office’s insurance carrier Wednesday.

Anyone with information that will lead to an arrest or prosecution is asked to call Garfield County Crime Stoppers at 233-6233 or Garfield County Sheriff’s Office at 237-0244. Callers can earn up to a $1,000 reward and will not be required to testify or be identified.