Something is not right One cold day in December, TSCRA Special Ranger
Larry Hand got a call from Petie Stegall, manager of the Panola Livestock Company in Carthage. A North Little Rock resident by the name of Bradley Guthrey had dropped off some cattle for the sale. “Stegall thought it was strange that someone would
bring only 8 head of cattle all the way to Carthage from central Arkansas,” Hand says, “And after check- ing the cattle in, Guthrey asked if he could drop his trailer while he went into town to fi nd a motel room and something to eat.” Before heading to Panola Livestock, Hand put out an
email to the surrounding special rangers and TSCRA market inspectors, asking if anyone had reported the cattle and/or trailer as stolen. Hand also made a phone call to TSCRA Special Ranger Toney Hurley, whose district borders Arkansas. He knew Hurley might have some contacts in that state. “I’ll check with some folks in Arkansas. In the meantime, let me know if you need any help,” Hurley said, “I can head that way.” Once Hand arrived at Panola Livestock, TSCRA Mar-
ket Inspector Pat McGuigan, Jr., showed him down the alleyway to the cattle Guthrey had checked in. Hand noted that there were no markings on the cattle. He then asked to see the stock trailer Guthrey had tem- porarily left behind. He noticed right away that the ID plate had been pried off and, after running a check,
found that the license plate information didn’t match up with the trailer. This, along with the other turn of events, was suspicious to Hand. Just as Hand was looking over the trailer, Panola
Constable Bryan Murff pulled into the parking lot to offer his help. Suddenly, barn employees waved at Hand and Murff, and yelled, “There goes the guy!” Someone in a pickup had just pulled into the parking lot, and then sped right back out, heading toward Carthage.
A chase and a manhunt Hand and Murff ran to their vehicles, switched on
their lights and sirens, and took off after the pickup, which quickly reached speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. “We both radioed the Panola County Sheriff’s De-
partment about the chase, taking note of every turn the suspect made, keeping him in our sights, and updating his location along the way,” Hand says. But the gap between the pickup and offi cers grew, and Hand and Murff decided to end their pursuit for safety reasons. But since the suspect’s location was broadcast over the police radio, a fl ood of other local law enforcement units spotted and tried to catch up to the speeding pickup. Guthrey fi nally crashed through a gate onto some
coal mining lands near Tatum. The pickup skidded to a stop just inside the property and Guthrey fl ed on foot, into the woods of East Texas and out of sight. In a matter of minutes, a Texas Department of Public
Safety (DPS) helicopter appeared overhead and several K-9s covered the ground, all searching for the suspect. Responding offi cers weren’t able to catch up to him on foot, but now they had the woods surrounded. That’s when Hand made the call to Special Ranger
Toney Hurley, and took him up on his offer to help. After Hurley arrived on the scene, and while numer-
ous law enforcement personnel searched the woods, Hurley and Hand spent time gathering more informa- tion on their suspect, Bradley Guthrey; found to be wanted in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Hand and Hurley also knew they had to come up with a way to reach Guthrey in the woods so they could try to convince him to surrender. Finally, a break came when they found a phone number for a friend of Guthrey. Hurley convinced that
It was dark outside, and Bradley Guthrey had been on the run in the East Texas woods for 8 hours when he heard helicopters overhead, along with barking dogs, and could see headlights approaching all around him. Special Ranger Toney Hurley was able to gain his trust and get him to surrender.
84 The Cattleman June 2015
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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