Dawes County
CHADRON FUGATIVES IN CUSTODY
By JOHN AXTELL, DOUBLE Q COUNTRY RADIO
Oct 11, 2007, 15:43

A 12-hour long manhunt and lockdown in Chadron ended safely shortly before noon with the arrest of five men suspected in a multi-state spree of armed robberies.

Chadron Police Chief Tim Lordino says over 50 officers from 13 state, local, and federal agencies in Nebraska and South Dakota took part in highway checkpoints, door-to-door searches, and the eventual arrests.

The manhunt began last night with a robbery at the Stateline Casino, just on the South Dakota side of the border on Highway 385 northwest of Chadron. Fall River County, SD, Sheriff Jeff Tarrell says the casino owner was threatened at gunpoint.

Sheriff Tarrell says the robbers fled in a pickup stolen in Montana, but a private citizen followed, allowing a description to be called ahead to Chadron.

Chief Lordino says one of his officers tried to make a traffic stop on the edge of town, but the pickup got away.
The pickup was found abandoned a short time later in Chadron with its doors open. The manhunt then focused on the Chadron State College campus after two groups of students told police they'd been approached about 1:30 am by five men offering a large amount of money for a ride.

Freshman Katie Hill of Morrill says the men offered $100 for a ride to a gas station because their car broke down and ran out of gas. Hill says one of the men continued to ask for a ride, pulling out a large stack of $20, $50, and $100 bills.

Lordino says the decision was then made after considerable discussion lock down the college and urge Chadron residents to stay home and lock their doors.

The college lockdown included students and staff being denied access. The 800 or so students living on-campus were told to stay in their rooms. Dawes County Sheriff Karl Dailey says students were very cooperative.

Chief Lordino says the big break in the manhunt came about 10 a.m., when a tip from a private citizen led officers to the five suspects on the west side of Chadron. Four were taken into custody without serious incident.

Lordino says it took a while to determine how many of the suspects had been caught, and he credits the close cooperation of the 13 agencies involved with bringing in the final suspect.

The Nebraska State Patrol provided the largest number of officers at 17, including a plane based in Ogallala.

Three of the men have been identified, and all were under the supervision of the Montana Department of Corrections. 19-year-old Jordan Adams and 20-year-old Jacob Kraus walked away from the Helena Prerelease Center on Monday, while 21-year old Camille Adams, the older brother of Jordan Adams had been on probation.

They're believed to be involved in a series of armed robberies in Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota including convenience stores in Butte and Columbus, Montana, Tuesday and a Sheridan, Wyoming, convenience store Wednesday.

Authorities are still trying to determine the identities of the other two men.

All five are being held in the Scotts Bluff County jail in Gering pending formal charges.


EARLIER STORY
Late this (Thursday) morning police arrested five individuals, four of them were caught around 10:30 a.m. in the 800 block of Pine Street and the other a little after 11:30 a.m. on extreme south Maple Street. However, police have released no information on whether the five were the suspects being sought.

Law enforcement radio traffic said two of the first four arrested were confirmed as being among the five, who are also suspects in recent armed robberies in Montana and Wyoming, but, again, no official confirmation of that radio traffic has been made.

Between the two sets of arrests, officers had surrounded a four-square-block area of southwest Chadron around a small trailer park. Residents of the area were asked to leave and officers could be seen lying in ditches with guns drawn. At least one K-9 unit was being used to search the area.

The manhunt began after five men wearing hooded sweat shirts, one brandishing a gun, held up the State Line Casino at the Nebraska-South Dakota border northwest of Chadron about 10:30 Thursday night.

Chadron Police Chief Tim Lordino says the suspects fled the Casino in a large pickup and came south toward Chadron.

The manhunt focused on the Chadron State College campus where two groups of students told police they'd been approached about 1:30 a.m. by five men offering a large amount of money for a ride.

Freshman Katie Hill of Morrill says the men offered $100 for a ride to a gas station because their car broke down and ran out of gas. Hill says one of the men continued to ask for a ride, pulling out a large stack of $20, $50, and $100 bills.

Those incidents and the fact the five suspects were all white males in their late teens or early twenties who might try to blend in at Chadron State College led to a full lockdown of the school. Students living on-campus were told to stay in their rooms while off-campus students and employees turned away.

Chief Lordino says some 50 officers from agencies in two states, including the Sheridan County Sheriff's office, Alliance police, the Rapid City SWAT team, joined local officers in manning highway checkpoints and conducting door-to-door searches.

As the Chadron lockdown and manhunt continued, schools, government offices, and many businesses decided to close for the day.

The Chadron Public Schools as well as Hay Springs, Gordon-Rushville and Crawford all called off classes early this morning while the Alliance Public Schools and the Alliance St. Agnes Academy went into a precautionary lockdown. The Hemingford Public Schools have called off all their extra-curricular activities scheduled for later today.

All Dawes County Offices closed, as did the Chadron Public Library and the Sheridan County Courthouse in Rushville, but Chadron City Offices opened as usual.

One financial institution, the First National Bank of Chadron, closed while the others opened only their drive-up windows. Chadron's biggest retailers, Wal-Mart and Safeway, closed, as did many smaller stores and several eating establishments.

Double Q Country was informed at 12:30 p.m. that the lockdown at Chadron State College has been lifted. However, no classes this afternoon or tonight at CSC.

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