By JOE MAY | The Southern Standard

An Amity man proved the old adage “you can run, but you can’t hide” to be correct recently.

According to an affidavit filed by Clark County Sheriff’s Investigator Rick Loy, the Amity Police Department was advised of a burglary alarm at Amity Pre-Owned Auto Sales on Center Street. A search of the premises found no one present; however, security footage of the interior showed a suspect, known to authorities as Christopher Ray Spears, 43, of West Texas Street in Amity, slipping in a front window by an air conditioning unit.

The video, which was posted on social media, shows Spears enter the business, look around briefly after replacing a window panel which he had removed to enter and then, upon seeing a security camera, open the door and run out.

An extensive search for the suspect over the next two days turned up no leads. Meanwhile, the suspect took a friend’s ATV in Pike County and managed to elude officers for a day. He later stole a vehicle from Sutton’s Sawmill on Coker Road and drove to Galveston, Texas. The vehicle was recovered from a convenience store in that city.

In Galveston, Spears allegedly stole another vehicle and drove it to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he was finally captured.  The affidavit noted that the theft of the ATV and the vehicle from the sawmill are under investigation by the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.

The filing notes that Spears has a lengthly history of felony convictions for crimes of this nature.

Spears is charged with Commercial Burglary and Criminal Mischief, both of which are felonies.