Manhunt suspect charged with evading arrest

A helicopter buzzed the skies and search dogs scrambled through the woods Tuesday morning (June 6) in south Graham as authorities searched for a man who fled a deputy just prior to midnight.

The man, David Ray Pearson Jr., 26, was caught later that same day by North Richland Hills Police Department officers. Young County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy John Orr said his office planned to pick up Pearson from Tarrant County Jail yesterday.

Events unfolded when a deputy stopped around 11:15 p.m. Monday to check on a late-model silver Mercedes sedan parked on the side of Hwy. 16 south by the Wildcatter Ranch.

“It was a welfare check … to see why he was just sitting there,” Orr said. But once the deputy arrived, the vehicle fled towards Graham, and a pursuit that lasted about 15 minutes took place, Orr said.

The two deputies chasing the Mercedes were joined by Graham Police Department patrol units once the chase entered the Graham city limits. The pursuit ended when the sedan crashed through a wooden privacy fence in the yard of a home on Howard Street, in the Pitcock addition.

Orr said at the time of the crash, his deputies were about 100  yards behind the Mercedes.

“They saw him wreck,” Orr said. “(Pearson) may have possibly fired a round; that’s still under investigation.”

A handgun was recovered in the vicinity of the wrecked car.

Pearson fled on foot into the woods, and about 15 minutes later, law enforcement had set up a perimeter and begun their search. Assisting in the search were not only local deputies and dispatchers, and Graham police officers, but also Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, dogs from the Allred Unit of Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Young Count Volunteer Fire Department Station 5, and Roy Pitcock, all of whom were thanked by Sheriff Travis Babcock in a press release sent Wednesday.

That continued until around 9 a.m., when the search was called off because law enforcement believed the driver was no longer armed, and probably long gone from the area.

They were correct: by mid-afternoon, Pearson was in custody in North Richland Hills, a community northeast of Fort  Worth.

At this time, Pearson has been charged with felony evading arrest or detention with a vehicle. He has a criminal history that includes being sentenced to state prison for drug possession and vehicle theft convictions. Both of those offenses took place in Palo Pinto County.