Local News
Fugitive caught in officer-involved shooting
The same day Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana profiled Archie Robertson, indicating local law enforcement officers were looking for him as a suspected methamphetamine dealer, Robertson turned up.
Just before noon Thursday, Kokomo Police Detective James Nielson saw Robertson driving in a gray pickup truck in the area of Wabash and Woodland avenues and tried to stop him.
As Nielson turned his vehicle around, Robertson stopped and backed up, ramming Nielson’s vehicle, Lt. Don Whitehead reported.
Nielson, a seven-year veteran officer, then fired “at least two shots” in an attempt to stop Robertson, Whitehead said in a press release.
Robertson then sped off south bound without returning fire and led responding officers on a brief chase before bailing out of the truck a few blocks away and running on foot.
A few minutes later, officers spotted Robertson in the 700 block of South Webster Street. Robertson refused commands of the officers and was physically taken into custody.
Officers found drugs and drug paraphernalia on Robertson when he was arrested. Two handguns were also found on the seat of his truck, Capt. Brian Thompson said.
Robertson is currently being held in the Howard County Jail and will face additional charges as the result of the shooting.
The shooting also prompted an internal investigation, which is procedure in an officer-related shooting, Thompson added.
No one was injured in the incident, but residents in the area were concerned.
“I was watching TV and heard tires squealing,” Brian Jameson said of the shooting in front of his house on Wabash Avenue.
“When I looked out, I saw a truck ram the black car and then the driver of the black car got out and fired three shots at the truck. I have an 8-month-old son and 3-year-old daughter inside the house. ... I was flipping out. It was crazy.”
Jameson also said Robertson’s gray truck had been in the area for a while.
“I’ve been here about a year and I’ve seen that same truck drive by about 10 times recently,” Jameson said.
Robertson was wanted on several warrants from Howard and Tipton counties and profiled on the Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana as a wanted fugitive. His profile appeared in Thursday’s Kokomo Tribune.
Whitehead also said Robertson has a lengthy criminal history including weapons charges and counterfeiting, and he has also allegedly made threats toward any officer who attempted to take him into custody.
According to Howard Count jail officials, Robertson has been booked into the jail 29 times since the 1990s. He also served time in a federal prison for counterfeiting and was released on federal parole in 2008.
• Mike Fletcher is the Kokomo Tribune crime reporter. He can be reached at 765-454-8565 or mike.fletcher@kokomotribune.com.
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