RED SPRINGS — A man wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service was in the Robeson County jail Monday afternoon waiting to be extradited thanks to the work of Red Springs police officers.
Officers Tammy Lowery and Amanda Velez arrested 35-year-old Manuel Antonio Alvarado, of 300 E. Eighth Ave. in Red Springs, after they responded to a call about 7 p.m. Sunday about a man walking in the middle of N.C. 71, according to a statement by Maj. Kimothy Monroe. Further investigation revealed Alvarado was wanted by the U.S. marshal for heroin distribution.
Alvarado was taken to the magistrate’s office and jailed under a $50,000 secured bond.
In an unrelated case, Red Springs police are asking the public’s help solving a shooting case, according to Monroe.
About 6 p.m. on Dec. 10, Officer Aaron Lowery heard what he thought were gunshots in the area of Eighth Avenue. Officers began a search of the area and were led to a residence at 125 E. Eighth Ave. owned by John Archie McNeill Jr. Officers found a bullet-riddled, beige Chevrolet Impala in the backyard.
Witnesses told the officers that McNeill, 30, was shot as he sat in his vehicle and he had been taken to Southeastern Regional Medical Center by a friend. McNeill was questioned at the hospital by a Robeson County Sheriff’s Office deputy, but offered no information, other than the shooting incident took place in Red Springs.
The case is under investigation, according to Monroe. Detectives are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the Red Springs Police Department at 910-843-3454.
Red Springs police continue the hunt for a man who swam away from pursuing officers, according to Monroe.
Arthur Charles Smith III, 26, of 503 Hamlet Ave. in Hamlet, led law enforcement officers from multiple local and state agencies on a chase through parts of Robeson and Scotland counties on Nov. 30, according to Monroe. The chase ended on Alma Road near Maxton when Smith lost control of the black Chevy Malibu he was driving and crashed. Smith and his passenger, 23-year-old Michalla Jade McPherson, of 4436 S.C. 57 in Little Rock, S.C., got out of the vehicle and jumped into the creek beneath the Alma Road bridge.
Smith swam away, but McPherson was pulled from the water and arrested.
The incident began about 3 p.m. that day when Officer Velez responded to a call from the 211 Laundrymat, located at 805 E. Fourth Ave. in Red Springs, about a careless and reckless driver in a black Chevy Malibu.
Several warrants have been taken out against Smith, according to Monroe.
“We’ll get him,” Monroe said Monday.
Anyone with information about Smith’s location is asked to contact the Red Springs Police Department at 910-843-3454.
