Deputies arrest a man wanted for thefts in Benton County, Mo.

EDWARDS, Mo. (KY3) - The search for a theft suspect ended.

Benton County, Sheriff’s Deputies, arrested Nicholas Scott Littlejohn, 30, of Edwards, Mo., on State Highway VV just after 12:30 Wednesday morning.

Deputies want to talk to Littlejohn about a series of thefts, burglaries, and several stolen vehicles in Benton and surrounding counties. Investigators say Littlejohn has been the subject of several pursuits throughout Benton County. They say Littlejohn fired a weapon on Monday at a pursuing deputy in Warsaw. Littlejohn escaped the pursuit by taking off on foot.

“We’ve had a rash of stolen vehicles. We recovered, one out of Kansas City, one out of Sedalia, now that we found them stuck in the mud down by the river, and we were able to get one person from that. Everybody else fled. So we were able to start working backward from that one, putting together who it was,” said Sheriff Eric Knox.

That is when someone in the car shot at deputies.

”Two shots were fired in the general direction of the pursuing deputy. At first, we thought it was Little John, and we’re not so sure. Now. By the time we get done interviewing and investigating, we’ll decide it was one of the two people obviously in the car. So it was either James Shaw, or it was Littlejohn,” said Sheriff Eric Knox.

Deputies used infrared radar to find Littlejohn.

”The FLIR aviation wing found him running through a field, and we were able to. We had people strategically placed around the county in the general area that had been last seen. So we had somebody there in minutes. It was really good,” said Sheriff Knox.

James E. Shaw III, 45, of Edwards, was also arrested Tuesday night for his involvement in the thefts. The sheriff says he is confident that more arrests will be made.

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