Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 23, 1992 TAG: 9201230331
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN and STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: BUCHANAN LENGTH: Medium
FUGITIVE CAUGHT IN BUCHANAN
Botetourt County sheriff's deputies, with police from Bedford County, Vinton and the U.S. Marshals Service, arrested a fugitive at a Buchanan house Wednesday night after a six-day hunt.Michael Ayers is wanted in connection with several federal charges and grand larcenies in the Roanoke Valley.
"We've known for several days that he's been frequenting this residence," Botetourt County Sheriff Reed Kelly said. Botetourt deputies had been checking the house occasionally for the past several days, he said.
Police also seized a car reported stolen from Bedford County.
The search for Ayers drew considerable interest on WSLS-TV, so much so that Vinton Police Chief Rick Foutz went on TV himself to rebut the claims of Ayers' brother, Max.
Max Ayers told WSLS viewers this week that police had labeled Michael as "armed and dangerous" as an excuse to gun him down.
Foutz realizes how effectively television can galvanize public opinion and that the TV statements by Max Ayers could well have left the impression that his officers are trigger-happy.
"He was reaching a lot of people out there at one time," Foutz said. "The only way I could combat that was to do the same thing."
Foutz was there to tell the television audience he wished Michael Ayers no harm.
It was the reluctance of law enforcement officials to discuss the Ayers case that prompted the station's interest in the story.
"The fact that lawmen were so tight-lipped about it heightened our interest even more," said Bill Foy, WSLS news director. "We heard everything from he was wanted on stolen-car charges to he had murdered a police officer. No one was doing a lot of talking out there."
Police were busy last Thursday night setting up checkpoints for Ayers near Stewartsville after he was spotted by a police officer. WSLS was there, cameras rolling.
Michael Ayers was turned over to federal agents, Kelly said.