Suspected bust leads to search on water, land

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, November 10, 2009

An Edwards man believed to be making a drug deal ran away on foot, sending local authorities on a land and water chase that included using high-tech imaging equipment.

The search for Marcus Kelly, 29, 143 Thompson Lane, began around 8:15 p.m. Monday after Vicksburg police officers spotted him and another person in the parking lot of the Waffle House on Warrenton Road, apparently making a drug deal.

When patrolmen tried to approach Kelly’s vehicle, he jumped out and ran behind the restaurant toward the Mississippi River, Vicksburg Lt. Bobby Stewart said.

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The Warren County Sheriff’s Department was called to put a search boat in the water, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said. Two deputies using thermal imaging equipment searched the river, the bridge’s underside and the river bank before spotting what was believed to be Kelly’s image in thick woods next to the river.

The search was called off after hours of the boat’s checking from the Mississippi River bridge about 1 1/2 miles to the Rainbow Casino, 1350 Warrenton Road.

Police recovered a fourth of an ounce of crack cocaine with a street value of $400 that Kelly was seen throwing to the ground during the foot chase with patrolmen, Stewart said.

“We are currently searching for Kelly for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and resisting arrest,” Stewart said this morning.

The man with whom Kelly was believed to be making a deal also ran on foot, but he was not found either, Stewart said.

Also, he said a woman in the car with Kelly was arrested on a misdemeanor drug charge.

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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com