Truck Driver Catches Escapee

NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A truck driver in Oklahoma risked his own live to help police re-capture a murder suspect.

Authorities were transporting Justin Welch back to Wisconsin when they pulled over for a bathroom break in Van Buren, Arkansas. Welch stabbed the guard with a screwdriver-like tool, took his gun, then stole a van and crossed the border into Oklahoma.

Welch, 26, is back in custody, after the accused murderer hitched a ride at this Salisaw travel center. Workers say he'd been there for hours, looking for a way to Oklahoma City.

"I'd just happened to look at the newspaper and I'd seen him all day, you know, and I'd happened to look at the newspaper and I thought, 'This really looks like him,'" said store clerk Nancy Ford.

Trucker T.J. Lyon agreed to give Welch a ride, even though he was warned who his passenger might be by the store clerks.

"At which point in time he admitted to me he was wanted for murder, he turned around to reach for his gun, yanked that out of his hand and the cops took over from there," Lyon said.

Lyon sent a text message to his mother, a 911 dispatcher in Utah, who called Salisaw police. Officers quickly pulled over the semi and inside the truck, Lyon said Welch reached for his gun.

"I think that the driver did a great job, I think that he probably saved his own life, as well as maybe some officers," Salisaw Police Chief Shaloa Edwards said.

It appears Welch will not be charged with any crimes in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Authorities waived those charges, to get him back to Wisconsin quickly.