Utah Truck Driver Helps to Capture Wis. Murder Suspect
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Utah man is being hailed as a hero for his role in capturing a Wisconsin murder suspect, Fox13now.com reported.
Justin Welch, a man accused of murdering a woman from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, escaped police custody in Arkansas earlier in the week, the site reported.
Welch hitched a ride with truck driver T.J. Lyon, from Spanish Fork, Utah. A convenience store clerk in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, informed Lyon that the man accompanying him, Welch, resembled a man whose picture was in the newspaper as an escaped murder suspect. Knowing this, Lyon allowed Welch to continue riding with him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He started asking me some kind of funny questions, so at that point in time I decided I was about 80 percent sure he was the guy," Lyon told Fox13now.com.
Lyon sent a text message to his sister just moments before leaving the gas station, asking her to inform their mother, a police dispatcher, about the situation, the site reported. Shortly after that, Oklahoma authorities pulled Lyon's truck over. Welch apparently attempted to grab his bag, which contained a gun, but Lyon grabbed it and threw it out the window, Fox13now.com reported. Police then took Welch back into custody.