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Aaron Gleason
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Kristen Patricia Baisley
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HUNTINGDON (November 4) – A New York
state man was captured late Sunday evening
after leading local, state, and federal
authorities on an all-day manhunt through
Huntingdon. Aaron Gleason, age 28, of
Germantown, New York was captured around
11:40 p.m. on Tower Road, Huntingdon in a
residential neighborhood after a scuffle
with a citizen and the final arrest by
Huntingdon Police Department officer Jeff
Winberry.
Gleason’s companion and cousin, Kristen
Patricia Baisley, age 24, of Pine Bush, New
York are both incarcerated in Carroll County
Jail awaiting a Wednesday arraignment. They
are charged with theft over $10,000 and
evading arrest and he is charged with a
weapons charge for being a felon in
possession of a prohibited weapon. He has a
history of previous charges of car-jacking,
robbery, assault, and escape. Gleason will
be charged additionally by federal
authorities.
The incident began around 6:00 a.m. on
Palmer’s Shelter Road, south of Huntingdon,
where the stolen 2002 Mitsubishi Montero
they were driving became disabled. The two
knocked on the door Kevin Meggs to ask for
assistance. Meggs is the brother of Deputy
Tim Meggs of the Carroll County Sheriff’s
Department. The couple did not want the
police, however Meggs phoned his brother,
who immediately phoned officer Michael
Verner, who resides near Kevin.
CCSD Investigator David Bunn said there are
three officers who reside within minutes of
the rural location, where the couple was.
Verner responded, found the car, and
determined it was stolen from Montgomery
County, Virginia. A foot chase ensued with
Verner apprehending Baisley. Gleason, and
his dog, evaded immediate capture.
Inside the vehicle were notebooks with
writings to make explosives, sawed-off
shotgun barrels, sawed-off gun stocks,
jewelry, cameras, .38-caliber ammunition,
medicine bottles, and class rings. There
were no bomb-making materials inside the
vehicle, said CCSD Investigator Becky Keith,
however, a couple of sawed-off shotguns,
that were hidden, were later located.
The Sheriff’s Department issued a bulletin
for Gleason and stated he was possibly armed
and dangerous. Tennessee Highway Patrol,
Drug Task Force, District Attorney’s
helicopter, several units of the Tennessee
Highway Patrol including Special Operations,
tracking dogs, two helicopters, and Criminal
Investigation Division; Federal Bureau of
Investigation; State Bomb and Arson; Alcohol
Tobacco and Firearms; Carroll County
Emergency Management Agency; and Homeland
Security all aided in the search.
Investigator Bunn said Gleason traveled on
foot through wooded areas and crossed creeks
to evade capture. He did not harm anyone or
attempt harm to anyone, said Bunn.
Handbills, bearing Gleason’s photograph,
were distributed to citizens, especially at
Wal-Mart. Officers established a perimeter
around Huntingdon and a command post on the
Court Square. Bunn said citizens were a
great help in Gleason’s capture. They phoned
in eyewitness accounts, which were very
accurate, said the investigator. He noted
that the citizenry feared for their safety.
Gleason was spotted on Tonya Lane, behind
the Mexican restaurant, and First Baptist
Church (1:46 p.m.), where two troopers gave
foot chase through Billy Cary Park. He
traveled near 70 and was spotted at 3:20
p.m. near the Amoco station near Wal-Mart.
He traveled through the creek behind
Wal-Mart (4:09 p.m.). Somewhere, along
Highway 70, the dog and Gleason were
separated. Officers indicated the dog was
aggressive, so Baisley was summoned to the
scene to retrieve the dog, which is now
housed at the Huntingdon Animal Clinic.
He was captured, unarmed, in the residential
area of Tower Road, Huntingdon, just off the
bypass. He passed through an area where an
officer was standing by his vehicle with the
engine turned off.
Keith said Gleason was hungry, wet, and
scratched from traveling from the wooded
areas. They gave him some food and dry
clothes at the county jail.
Keith said the couple has no ties to this
area. They probably exited I-40 at Exit 108,
traveled north along State Route 22 and
turned onto Palmer Shelter Road.
Bunn said federal charges could yield
Gleason years of incarceration.
Bunn and Keith thanked the local, state, and
federal law enforcement agencies and the
citizens, who provided valuable information,
which lead to Gleason’s capture. |
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