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Cody Jones was arrested for multiple charges after leading officers on a high-speed chase. (Courtesy photo)
A Grayson County man is in jail after leading officers on a high-speed pursuit. On the night of August 16, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office to assist with searching for Clay Jones.
Jones, a 25-year-old male from Whitesboro, Texas, was wanted following an incident that occurred in Grayson County. According to the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called out to the 700 block of Quail Hill Road in Whitesboro.
The victim alleged that Jones, and Jess Mitcheson, a 28-year-old male from Whitesboro, severely beat them after an altercation. Deputies reported that the victim had injuries that coincided with their allegations. She sustained injuries to her face and head, as well as lacerations to her leg.
The victim alleged that one of the suspects held her by her hair and cut her on her leg. Micheson was arrested on scene, but Jones fled the scene before deputies arrived.
The investigation led officers to a residence in Marshall County. As Marshall County deputies approached Jones to take him into custody, he rammed two patrol cars and fled the area in a stolen vehicle from Kingston.
Shortly after fleeing, Jones abandoned the vehicle and took off on foot to hide in a wooded area. Marshall County deputies, along with Madill, Kingston and Lighthorse Police Departments, searched the area. Unfortunately, she were unable to locate the suspect.
Deputies patrolled the area throughout the night, still, with no luck in locating Jones.
Fortunately, the MCSO got a break in the case in the early morning of August 17. The MCSO began receiving calls about seeing the suspect.
Jones wasn’t just walking around the neighborhood, spurring the residents to call MCSO and ultimately leading to his capture. He also entered two houses in an attempt to get the officers of his trail
Marshall County resident Bobbi Weeks witnessed that first hand. She told KXII that her husband Lance saw a dark-haired man walking in front of their porch early Wednesday morning. The 911 call was one of the multiple calls the MCSO received about the suspect. However, officers were unsuccessful in locating Jones at that time.
“The cops came back up here and they searched and didn’t find him,” Weeks told KXII in an interview.
Bobbi said she heard about the manhunt the night before, thanks to a neighborhood watch group. She thought she was safe because she made sure all her doors were locked. She figured the suspect was just looking for a way to escape.
“And I figured too, he was probably looking at cars to see if there were keys or anything,” Weeks told KXII.
Once the officers’ search came up dry, Lance asked a deputy if it was safe to take their daughter to school. The officer said he thought that would be fine, so Lance brought their daughter to school.
That was when the excitement happened. Just a few minutes after her husband and daughter left, she heard a crash. She told KXII that she never imagined she would see what she did.
“You never think it’s going to happen to you until it does,” Weeks said in the interview.
She said she would have never let her husband leave if she thought anything could happen, because there were officers all over. She got up to see what the noise was and was surprised by what she found.
“The guy was coming in my doggy door,” Weeks told KXII. “And I just started screaming for him to get out of my house. He stood up and looked at me and was asking ‘please no, no, no,’ and I was trying to get to my front door because I had locked them both knowing that he was out and about. I was trying to get those unlocked. I just kept yelling at him to get out of my house.”
Bobbi said that her fight or flight instincts took over, and she ran out of the house. She ran up the road, yelling for officers. She said she doesn’t think the suspect went in the house to specifically target her.
She told KXII that she thinks Jones expected the house to be empty because he saw her husband and daughter leave. She doesn’t think he thought anything about another car being in the driveway.
Bobbi said she thinks he was going inside to look for necessary items like clothes, shoes and other stuff.
“So I think that it probably surprised him that I was actually in the house, even though there was a car here,” Weeks said in the interview. “But he saw two people leave and he saw the doggy door and knew that would be a way to get in.”
Luckily, officers were still nearby and heard Bobbi screaming. A few moments later, officers found Jones hiding in the brambles behind the Weeks’ residence.
Bobbi said she attributes the fact that she was able to escape unscathed to a higher power.
“I feel like the good Lord protected me cause there’s just no way that explains why he didn’t come after me,” Weeks said. “Knowing those doors were locked and I couldn’t get out of them.”
Bobbi and Lance said they are grateful that officers were so close, and were able to respond so quickly.
Due to the fast-acting residents and MCSO, Jones was located and taken into custody. He is facing multiple felony charges in Marshall and Grayson County.
According to an online search, Jones has priors for DUI, Escape, Continued Violence Against the Family, Assault on Family Member/Impeding Breath, Evading Arrest, and Burglary of a Building.
Mitcheson has priors for Injury to Child/Elderly with Intent to Injure and Credit Card Abuse.