Opp man flees from police, found with spice

Published 12:00 am Thursday, March 30, 2017

An Opp man who was caught shining a flashlight in the Edward Jones Financial building early Tuesday morning is facing a host of charges.

Opp Police Chief Mike McDonald said that around 3 a.m. Tuesday, an officer observed an occupied black pickup truck parked in front of the West Hart Avenue.

The occupant, Kale J. Mitchell, 23, of resident Opp, was allegedly shining a flashlight on the building.

“The officer attempted to make contact with Mr. Mitchell, and Mr. Mitchell attempted to drive westbound on West Hart Avenue,” he said. “The officer got the vehicle stopped and based on Mr. Mitchell’s behavior, K9 Bella was deployed and alerted on the pickup truck.”

McDonald said that officers found synthetic marijuana in the truck. “Mr. Mitchell fled from officers on foot and officers lost contact with him in the area of West Stewart Avenue,” he said. “At 7:30 a.m., OPD officers and investigators made contact with Mr. Mitchell inside of a mobile home located on Beulah Road.”

McDonald said Mitchell was attempting to hide from officers in a bedroom closet.

“Once contact was made with Mr. Mitchell, he failed to comply with the officer’s instructions and actively resisted arrest,” he said. “Mr. Mitchell physically attacked an investigator and an officer deployed his taser.”

Mitchell was taken into custody and charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, obstruction of governmental operations, resisting arrest and harassment.