The Morehead Police Department was recognized by city council members at the regular May city council meeting for their work in capturing an inmate who fled from custody. Leaders in the City of Morehead alerted the public last week to the escape of Rowan County Detention Center inmate Anthony Martinez, arrested on federal bank robbery charges.
While receiving treatment at UK St. Claire, Martinez evaded custody, initiating a multi-day manhunt. The police department utilized man tracking training and drone technology to find and apprehend Martinez in a densely wooded area of Triplett Creek.
Derrick Blevins, Morehead City Police Chief, said the department’s first priority was raising awareness for the public to keep residents safe and informed. He added because of the fugitive’s violent history, the escape was regarded as a public safety concern.
“That’s the way we decided to treat it early on was, until we get the information that this person has left the area, we are going to every day be searching, looking, and working. And that’s what they did,” said Blevins. “You know, whether it’s investigation at the jail where they’re going through phone calls and any information they can get up there, to- I mean, we had guys flying drones at 2 o’clock in the morning.”
Officials said many groups and technologies contributed to the recapture. According to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, MPD officers Dewayne Slone and Steve Justice successfully apprehended Martinez and took him back into custody alongside other officers.
Blevins said their team also had the opportunity to utilize their new drone units, an extremely valuable tool when man tracking.
“We went live with it in August of last year, I think. We had to train our pilots, and then they each had to get eight hours of actual flight time with our drone before they could even respond on call. So, that is a very new thing for us,” said Blevins.
He added MPD had valuable help from Kentucky State Police and the Morehead community.