Escaped Fugitive Captured in Lamar County

By Kristal Dixon

The man who escaped police capture on Tuesday in Woodstock has been arrested on the other side of metro Atlanta.

Billy Lee Owens, 36, was apprehended along Highway 36 at McCollum Road in Lamar County around 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, said Gavin Duffy, supervisory inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service's Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Duffy said law enforcement officials working the case set up a perimeter in the area and spotted the suspect appearing out of the wood line.

Owens allegedly approached some homes along the thoroughfare and appeared to have been possibly trying to enter one of the homes, Duffy stated.

Duffy said Owens initially tried to run away from police, but he was taken into custody.

Officials with the Georgia Department of Corrections, Lamar County Sheriff's Office, Georgia State Patrol and Georgia Bureau of Investigation all assisted in the manhunt, which shifted from Cherokee to Lamar county early Wednesday morning. 

On Wednesday, an officer with a law enforcement agency in Lamar County attempted to pull over a vehicle reported stolen out of Cherokee County in which a man matching Owens' description was driving. 

Duffy said the officer attempted to pull over the vehicle, but the man fled on foot from the scene. 

Duffy said Owens will be transported to the Fayette County Jail where he had felony warrants out for his arrest.

Agents just after 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 17 were attempting to serve arrest warrants at a home off Arnold Mill Road in unincorporated Woodstock when Owens fled the home in a vehicle.  

Owen was wanted on variety of "violent crimes" throughout the metro Atlanta area, including burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Duffy added. 

Along with Fayette County, Owens had active arrest warrants from Meriwether and Pike counties, as well as new charges in Cherokee stemming from his alleged use of a stolen van to escape lawful arrest in Woodstock, Gavin added.

No one was seriously hurt in Tuesday's incident, but Duffy added other suspects who were with Owen at the time of incident were arrested. 

Duffy said he did not have those suspects' information, including how many were with Owens or what charges they were wanted on.