Sequoyah County District Attorney Richard Gray announced Thursday in a press release that his drug task force investigators, in cooperation with U.S. Marshals, were responsible for the fugitive's apprehension.
Joel Matthew Crittenden was caught after a five-week manhunt in northeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas that involved a variety of law enforcement agencies, Gray said.
Gray said Crittenden has a long history of violent crime. Crittenden had outstanding warrants for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, robbery with a firearm, theft of a motor vehicle, three counts of feloniously pointing a firearm, possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, and kidnapping.
"That is one more dangerous criminal off the street the citizens of this district no longer have to worry about," Gray said.
Crittenden was located in a home about one mile east and three miles south of Westville after law enforcement received a tip from a local resident. He was hiding in a closet in the back bedroom of the home when he was apprehended.
Several other people were at the home at the time Crittenden was taken into custody, Gray said. Charges will be submitted to Gray's office for those people who aided in harboring a fugitive.
