Police got a tip around 8 p.m. Tuesday that fugitive Jerry Herzet, 43, was living in a mobile home on property near 4800 West and 3500 South. Herzet was wanted for violating his parole and has an extensive criminal history, court documents show.
Highlights of his extensive record include convictions on theft, drug possession and aggravated burglary counts.
Officers had driven to the area and saw cars leaving the home. Suspecting Herzet was in one of the vehicles, they pursued the cars and later found he was not inside, said Lt. Bill Merritt.
Police returned to the mobile home and confronted a man and a woman who said Jerry had just jumped a fence and left southbound.
Crews set up containment and sent in K-9 units to look for Herzet, whom they believed was a long-haired man with tattoos on his arms. But Merritt said the fugitive actually had short hair and tattoos on his legs.
Herzet spoke with then-unwitting police during the containment, giving his name then as "Mike." He was able to slip through the police perimeter by telling officers he did not have a license or other form of identification, Merritt said.
Officers eventually called off the first containment, but after looking at a picture of Herzet in the police system, they realized he was the man they had earlier interviewed.
Police set up a second containment and again located Herzet just after 10 p.m. They arrested him just a block from the mobile home near 3650 south 4800 south.
