East Texas

By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

LINDALE -- Police and a teenager's family members want the youth to stop running and turn himself in after he fled officers who went to arrest him Tuesday at Lindale High School.

Lindale Police Chief Dan Somes said officers went to the school Tuesday morning to serve a felony arrest warrant on 18-year-old Trenton Tucker.

Somes said the officers talked with the principal and set it up where Tucker would be called into the office and be taken into custody without doing so in front of other students.

"We did it this way so there wouldn't be any problems, but I think he just freaked and he bolted from the room and out of the school," he said. Tucker left the principal's office without his sandals, resisted the officer and then fled, which resulted in a manhunt starting at the school and ending in Tyler.

Somewhere along the way, Tucker removed his pants and citizens reported that he was covered in scratches from running through a wooded area.

From Lindale there were reports that Tucker was driven to Tyler by a friend to his sister's house and police surrounded and checked the home on Fairmont Avenue, but were unable to locate the teen.

Somes said Tucker was originally wanted on a credit card abuse charge, but now faces misdemeanor evading on foot and resisting charges. "What we want Trenton to do is realize he made a poor decision and just turn himself in and let us get this worked out. He's not a bad kid, he's just scared," he said.

Somes said anyone with information of Tucker's whereabouts should call the Lindale Police Department at 903-882-3313 or their local law enforcement agency.