Robbery suspect caught after pursuit

A Rockhold man is accused of assaulting a police officer and a service dog while trying to elude Williamsburg police Monday evening after they tried to serve him with an arrest warrant for robbery.

Williamsburg Police Detective Bobby Freeman charged Jason William Taylor, 25, with first-degree fleeing or evading police, resisting arrest, third-degree assault of a police officer, first-degree assault on a service animal, third-degree criminal mischief, first-degree possession of a controlled substance, and first-degree robbery.

Freeman said he and acting Chief Wayne Bird received information that Taylor was going to be at the Shell station in Goldbug and set up a stake out to look for him.

Freeman said that after waiting for nearly an hour, Taylor showed up to meet with someone.

“When he got there, we pulled up and tried to approach him. We identified ourselves as police officers,” Freeman said.

“Then the male subject took off running. He went behind the Shell station and fell off the bank about 40 feet to the bottom.”

Freeman said he followed the suspect down the embankment and when he got to the bottom, told Taylor to put his hands up.

“We had a small scuffle right there. Due to the kudzu and the rocks, I lost my footing and the male subject got loose from me and took off running again,” Freeman said.

Authorities lost Taylor in the dark as he dug in under the kudzu. They established a perimeter and called for assistance from other Williamsburg officers and sheriff’s deputies.

The Williamsburg Fire Department brought in searchlights to aid in the effort.
K-9 search dogs from the Corbin Police Department and Kentucky State Police also responded to the area.

Eventually, the KSP dog made contact with Taylor, who kicked the animal causing a cut to its mouth and damage to its eye socket.

Freeman said the animal is expected to recover.

Police finally apprehended Taylor about 8 p.m. off Ballard Ford Road about one mile north of Williamsburg, and lodged him in the Whitley County Detention Center.

“The dog did good. The kudzu was thick. We probably never would have found him if it wasn’t for that dog. It did a really good job,” Freeman added.

The robbery charge stems from an Oct. 15 robbery at the Williamsburg Sonic where Taylor allegedly took several hundred dollars in cash from a waitress by force and then fled the scene on foot, according to the arrest warrant signed by District Judge Fred White.

Taylor is being held on a $50,000 cash bond on the robbery charge alone.
Kentucky Division of Emergency Management Area 11 Manager Jerry Rains also assisted at the scene.