DESOTO COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - After a drive-by shooting, two-county police chase and an hours-long manhunt, Stephon Henderson was arrested early Tuesday morning in a wooded part of DeSoto County.
Sheriff's deputies from Tunica and DeSoto counties say they chased Henderson for hours in the dark late last night. DeSoto County's sheriff wants new technology that could shorten future searches.
Cops say Henderson shot at "The Front Porch" barbeque restaurant in Tunica. Then he took off, leading deputies on a chase from Tunica to DeSoto County.
They used a set of spike strips to destroy his tires, but that wasn't enough to end the chase.
"He bailed out of the vehicle and jumped over the edge of the bridge," says DeSoto Sheriff Bill Rasco. "That's about a 300 foot drop, and then he took off into the woods."
Henderson eluded deputies for hours, but not for good. He was captured seven hours later.
"Last night would have been a great opportunity to have it," Rasco says, speaking of night vision goggles.
The Desoto County Sheriff's Department sent its helicopter to help with the search. If its aviation unit had the tool, Rasco says the search could have been cut short.
"They could weed out the ones doing the tracking and our dogs and K9 trackers and pick up the suspect."
He's asking the county to look into applying for a $25,000 grant to buy them. "It's not going to cost the taxpayers $1 if we can arrange this grant," he says, "It's something I feel like our aviation unit needs."
The chopper carries two people at a time, a pilot and a spotter. Right now the teams use a camera and a search light.
"They have a regular helmet with radios in it," Rasco says. "This helmet would have night vision and they could just pull it down at nighttime."
"It could be dark as it could be looking at a target just as plain as day. We want to be sure if someone's got a grant out there, like through Homeland Security, and they're going to give it to someone, we're going to do our best to get what we can."
No one was hurt in Monday night's shooting. Henderson is in Tunica jail. His exact charges are pending.
