Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 25, 1993 TAG: 9309250141
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RURAL RETREAT LENGTH: Medium
John Barry Henderson, 28, of Abingdon, was being sought by Washington County authorities after he failed to turn himself in Thursday to begin serving a 17-year sentence for the armed robbery of a convenience store.
Sullivan County, Tenn., authorities had been searching around South Holston Lake recently after receiving reports that Henderson was last seen there. They found a life preserver and a raft.
Friday morning, the Wythe County Sheriff's Office received a report of a disturbance at a small house on Virginia 677 just south of Rural Retreat.
Sgt. Jeff Ratliff said a neighbor told him the woman who lived at the home had said a man in the house named Barry had faked his death and she thought he was wanted for armed robbery.
Authorities learned that "Barry" was Henderson and that he was wanted by Washington County.
Ratliff called for backup officers. SWAT teams from Wythe County and the state police, along with canine units and a state police helicopter, arrived.
Ratliff said Sheriff Wayne Pike tried to get Henderson and the woman who rented the house, Jamie Michelle Johnson, 32, to come outside, but they did not respond to loudspeaker messages and telephone calls.
Ratliff said tear gas was then fired into house. Johnson came out, but she denied that Henderson was inside.
Authorities searched the one-story house and found Henderson hiding in an attic crawl space, Ratliff said. Henderson was arrested about 11:45 a.m.
Johnson was taken to the Wythe County Jail, where she was charged with harboring a fugitive and obstruction of justice.
Washington County authorities picked Henderson up and took him to the Washington County Jail, where he was being held Friday night.
by CNB