FORNEY, Texas — At just 26 years old, Joseph Rodriguez is no stranger to running from law enforcement: he is now facing, in addition to two previous convictions, several charges for evading arrest.
FORNEY, Texas — At just 26 years old, Joseph Rodriguez is no stranger to running from law enforcement: he is now facing, in addition to two previous convictions, several charges for evading arrest.
The Forney Police Department confirms the man who was captured in Hunt County in an overnight pursuit and manhunt on Tuesday was wanted on Forney charges for evading arrest and possession of a large amount of methamphetamine.
Rodriguez, of Kennedale, Texas, was apprehended just before 3 a.m. on Wednesday, July 7, 2015, after a three-hour, multi-agency manhunt following a pursuit of a stolen vehicle which began in Kaufman County on Tuesday night.
Forney police say Rodriguez was involved in a similar instance with their department in April after high-speed police pursuit of a vehicle from Forney to Balch Springs, Texas, where Rodriguez fled on foot into a wooded area and was able to evade arrest.
Police called in K-9 units and a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter to aid in the April search. A law enforcement source tells inForney.com Rodriguez possibly climbed a tree to avoid detection from K-9 and air support.
In Tuesday’s manhunt, bloodhounds from the Colemoore Texas Department of Corrections assisted in the manhunt of Rodriguez who was again “treed” and later spotlighted by a DPS helicopter.
A separate law enforcement source told inForney.com Rodriguez is suspected of fleeing from deputies on at least two other occasions in Kaufman County and Hunt County in the past couple of weeks.
In the April instance, police recovered identifying information linking Rodriguez to the vehicle and also seized a handgun, 114 grams of methamphetamine, and .083 ounces of marijuana from the vehicle. Rodriguez is being held in the Hunt County jail on the Forney charges with bonds totaling $600,000.
In addition to the Forney charges, Rodriguez is being held on Hunt County charges for manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance in penalty group 1 more than four grams and less than 200 grams, evading arrest or detention with a vehicle, and unauthorized use of a vehicle on bonds totaling $45,000.
Rodriguez is also being held on Van Zandt County offenses including two charges of evading arrest or detention with a vehicle and three penalty group 1 possession charges with bonds totaling $220,000.
On the parole violation, a Kaufman County conviction for possession of a controlled substance penalty group 1 more than four grams and less than 200 grams, Rodriguez is being held on no bond.
Rodriguez’s first conviction for evading arrest came in 2009 in Kaufman County. His second, in 2011 in Wise County. His criminal history includes a string of possession of marijuana charges, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of a controlled substance penalty group 1, according to court documents.
