FAYETTEVILLE -- The U.S. Marshals Service on Friday arrested Marcus Ford in connection with attempted capital murder after a May 10 incident in which Ford reportedly hit a Fayetteville police officer with a vehicle while fleeing from police.
Ford, 25, of Alabaster, Ala., was arrested without incident around 2 p.m. Friday in Birmingham, Ala., by officers with the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Cory Thomas, supervisory deputy U.S. marshal with the Marshals Service Western Arkansas Fugitive Task Force, said Ford is being held in Birmingham on a warrant for attempted capital murder pending extradition to Arkansas.
Thomas said the investigation ranged from near the Canadian border to Florida before Ford was finally found.
"The investigation led us to an address in Birmingham," Thomas said. "We were able to safely locate and arrest him there."
According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant filed in Washington County Circuit Court, police were contacted May 10 by Cole Corley, who said his girlfriend and his sister were missing. Corley told police the women had left the 7hills Homeless Center on South School Avenue in a blue Mitsubishi hatchback with Florida license plates driven by a man who said he was going to a bank and needed two people with identification. Corley said he became concerned when the women didn't return to the center.
An officer on patrol in the area of North College Avenue and Sycamore Street saw a blue Mitsubishi hatchback matching the description Corley had given, the affidavit says. When the officer approached the car the driver, later identified as Ford, disregarded a command to leave the car and drove away. The officer pursued the Mitsubishi west on West Sycamore Street and then north on North Gregg Avenue before ending the pursuit.
According to the affidavit, another officer saw Ford parking the car in the lot of the Wilson Park Apartments at 15 W. Prospect St. The officer recognized the car and Ford from descriptions given during the earlier pursuit and parked his unmarked police vehicle next to the car as Ford was beginning to get out of it.
The officer approached the car, displaying his police badge and ordering Ford to exit the car, according to the affidavit. Ford disregarded the orders and returned to the car, shifting it into drive. Ford then drove forward, knocking the officer to the ground. The officer was taken to a local hospital for injuries to his head and arm. Four witnesses gave statements supporting the officer's account of the incident.
The car was later found abandoned in the parking lot of Central Baptist Church at 1301 N. Gregg Ave and towed to the Fayetteville Police Department. After a search warrant was obtained, investigators found a prescription medication bottle with Ford's name on it and were able to obtain a driver's license photo and a jail booking photo of Ford, according to the affidavit.
Ford was also positively identified by the officer who had pursued the car and the officer hit by the car.