ELLIS COUNTY —Law enforcement in Ellis County provided additional details into the arrest of a suspect wanted for shooting a Lee's Summit, Missouri Police officer.
Just after 2a.m. Tuesday the Ellis Police Department received a tip via CrimeStoppers that the suspect, identified as Thomas Tolbert, was staying at the Day’s Inn Hotel, located at 205 Washington Street in Ellis, according to a press release from the Ellis Police Department.
The Ellis Police officer on duty requested that the CrimeStoppers tip line get in contact with Ellis County Communications, in order to gather the most accurate information and broadcast it out to area law enforcement units. All available units were requested to respond to the city of Ellis so that a plan could be devised to verify the integrity of the tip that was received, the release said.
At about 2:42 a.m., Ellis County Communications received additional information from witnesses who reported giving Tolbert a ride from the Kansas City, Missouri area. They stated they were en route to Colorado and had been asked by a third party to transport Tolbert, unaware of his connection to the Blue Alert, the release said.
According to the witnesses, Tolbert provided a false name and began acting suspiciously during the trip. Upon stopping to rest for the night, one of the witnesses saw the Blue Alert on social media featuring Tolbert’s image and immediately contacted law enforcement, the Ellis release said.
At 2:45 a.m., the Ellis Police Department requested activation of the Hays Police Department’s Special Situation Response Team (SSRT). Members of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation also responded to the scene. At 4:39 a.m., SSRT began evacuating adjacent hotel rooms.
Officers from the Hays Police Department, deputies from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office and KBI agents arrived at the hotel and safely took Tolbert into custody at around 4:50 a.m., the KBI said.
Tolbert was arrested on a Missouri warrant on requested charges of assault first-degree or attempted serious physical injury, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting arrest or detention by fleeing, and second-degree domestic assault.