iStock/Thinkstock(NASHVILLE) — The fugitive who allegedly killed a sheriff’s sergeant has been captured and charged with premeditated murder after a days-long manhunt in Tennessee, authorities said.
Steven Wiggins, who had been on the run since the fatal shooting in Dickson County earlier this week, was taken into custody Friday morning, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
An image of Wiggins released by the TBI showed him in handcuffs in the back of a squad car with what appeared to be dirt smeared across his clothes and a large rip in his jeans.
“I am very pleased to announce this morning that the fugitive Steven Wiggins is officially in custody,” TBI director Jason Locke said at a press conference Friday morning. “Sheriff Bledsoe and his staff can now focus on joining the family and beginning to mourn the loss of this great man, Sgt. Baker.”
Wiggins was caught after a state trooper on duty spotted him in the woods along Stinson Road in neighboring Hickman County, some 40 miles southwest of Nashville, according to Col. Dereck Stewart of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Trooper Kevin Burch immediately got out of his patrol vehicle and approached the suspect, who wears glasses, has a beard and has distinctive tattoos.
“That’s when he noticed the tattoos and was able to confirm that he met the overall description of the suspect that we’ve been looking for,” Stewart told reporters at the press conference.
The trooper drew his weapon and ordered Wiggins to get down on the ground. Wiggins “willfully obeyed” the orders and the trooper was able to arrest him without incident, Stewart said.
Wiggins was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries and will be booked in county jail once he’s treated, according to the TBI. The criminal investigation remains ongoing.
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