Fugitive sentenced to four months after escape and subsequent arrest in Trail

A high-risk offender is behind bars after a midnight arrest in a Trail home Thursday, according to RCMP Sgt. Rob Hawton.

He said 26-year-old Joel Hutchinson had been eluding law enforcement for some time, including having escaped police custody the day before Trail and Castlegar Crime Reduction Units arrested him Thursday.

"About three weeks earlier, police saw him from a distance, and he ran away," Hawton said. "On July 4, he was observed in a vehicle being driven by someone else. A traffic stop was initiated and he was taken into custody, but managed to escape, eluding police on foot."

Further investigation led police to a home in West Trail, where Hutchinson was arrested at roughly midnight. Police found cocaine in his possession.

Hutchinson appeared in Rossland court Friday, pleading guilty to escaping lawful custody and possession of a controlled substance, receiving a four-month sentence over and above his breach of parole.

Hawton said the man was well-known to police.