Dollar General workers’ 911 call ends hours-long manhunt for theft suspect in Genoa woods

GENOA, Ark. — A Texarkana-area man wanted on a felony theft warrant spent hours hiding from Miller County deputies in the woods near Genoa before a Dollar General employee spotted him and called 911, the Miller County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

Troyce Johnson was taken into custody Oct. 7 after what the sheriff’s office described as “many hours spent looking for him in a wooded area in the Genoa community,” according to a news release from Sheriff Wayne Easley’s office.

The search kept Genoa Central School District’s campuses locked down for hours. The district announced shortly after 8 a.m. that morning that all of its campuses were in a “soft lockdown” as a safety precaution, with classes continuing and students and staff kept inside the buildings.

“At this time, all Genoa Central campuses are being placed on a soft lockdown as a safety precaution,” the district said in a post on its Facebook page. “Classes will continue as normal, and all students and staff are safe.”

An update from the district at 12:10 p.m. said there had been no change in the lockdown and that students were still being kept in the building. The lockdown lasted roughly three hours before it was lifted.

Johnson had an outstanding felony warrant for theft by receiving property valued at more than $5,000 but less than $25,000, the release said.

Running from deputies cost him three more charges. The sheriff’s office said Johnson now also faces a count of commercial burglary, along with misdemeanor counts of theft of property valued at less than $1,000 and fleeing on foot.

The search ended when staff at a Dollar General store saw Johnson and immediately called 911, the release said. Deputy McAdams took him into custody and drove him to the Miller County Detention Center, where he was booked on all four charges.

“Our agency is thankful for the help from the staff of the Dollar General who spotted Mr. Johnson and immediately called 911,” the sheriff’s office said. “Because of their swift actions, Deputy McAdams was able to take Mr. Johnson into custody.”

Johnson remained in the Miller County jail Tuesday on a $35,000 bond, the sheriff’s office said.

The release did not say what property the theft-by-receiving warrant involves, which business the commercial burglary charge stems from, or what was reported stolen during the search. In Arkansas, theft by receiving property worth between $5,000 and $25,000 is a Class C felony, punishable by three to 10 years in prison. Commercial burglary is also a Class C felony.

As of Tuesday, no charges in the case had been filed in Miller County Circuit Court, according to state court records.