GOSHEN -- Search and rescue efforts continue for a man who went into Richland Creek after running from and having an electric stun gun used by a deputy Feb. 28, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office listed James Valles, 35, of Elkins as a missing person Sunday.
Cpl. Addison Webb stopped to check a white 2003 Toyota Camry parked beside the east Twin Bridge near Wyman Road about 12:10 a.m. Feb. 28, according to his preliminary report. The car was empty.
He saw a man running on the Arkansas 45 embankment and lost sight of him in the tree line, Webb wrote. Officials have not identified the man.
Webb found another man, believed to be Valles hiding under the north part of the ledge. The man ran and Webb followed, closing in on him and giving several commands to stop. When he continued, Webb used a stun gun on him, according to the report. He was the only deputy there at the time.
Valles fell forward and rolled down the hill, then he got up and began running toward the river, according to the report. Webb lost sight of him and heard a splash.
Webb wrote he saw Valles floating north in the creek.
More deputies arrived to help Webb. It had been raining heavily for days and the creek was high, deputies wrote in follow-up reports.
Search teams looked in and around 5 miles of the creek and White River over the next few days. Search and rescue teams used a helicopter and the Sheriff's Office boat equipped with sonar. The searches halted late Monday, and resumed Friday, said Kelly Cantrell, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.
"Deputies have been out on the water searching by boat again, and Saturday search and rescue expects to complete another ground search," Cantrell said Friday afternoon.
Deputies found a marijuana pipe, meth pipe, bags and containers of about 29 grams of marijuana and 0.7 grams meth in the abandoned Camry, according to deputies' reports. A backpack had documents inside with the names of Valles and Alan Fleener, 49.
Valles is on probation, according the the Sheriff's Office reports.
Deputies spoke to people over the past week who know Valles and they hadn't seen or heard from him since mid-afternoon Feb. 27.
Under Sheriff's Office policy, all "use of force" actions are reviewed. Webb's use of force in regards to using a stun gun has been determined to be within agency guidelines, Cantrell said.
NW News on 03/10/2018