James Calvin Sluder Jr., above, eluded law enforcement officers for nearly a week
before being taken into custody early Sunday morning (10-08-06) near his home.
by Al Summers
News Editor • alsummers@timescourier.com
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James Calvin Sluder Jr., above, eluded law enforcement officers for nearly a week
before being taken into custody early Sunday morning (10-08-06) near his home.
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After eluding police dogs, S.W.A.T. teams, and law officers for six days and nights, three Gilmer County Sheriff’s deputies captured fugitive James Calvin Sluder Jr. just after 1 a.m. Sunday morning, Sept. 8, near the intersection of New Hope Club Road and Craigtown Road.
Sluder, 31, was armed with an assault rifle, a Ruger Mini-Thirty 7.62 calibre with a night scope, at the time of his capture, but he was taken into custody without incident.
According to Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson, Sluder played a game of cat and mouse last week with the Georgia State Patrol S.W.A.T. team on Monday and then with the Cherokee County S.W.A.T. team Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before finally being apprehended.
A sighting of him on Saturday morning in the Zion Hill area of Gilmer County brought a swarm of officers back to the county for the day. During a traffic stop of a suspicious vehicle, Sluder jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot. In the commotion, he dropped an automatic assault weapon, a Ruger Mini-14 .223 calibre, on the ground before escaping up a steep bank.
After a massive manhunt failed to locate the fugitive, the command center that had been set up in the Zion Hill area was closed around 11 p.m. Saturday night. As a precautionary measure, a surveillance team was stationed near Sluder’s residence on New Hope Club Road.
James Calvin Sluder Jr. carried the above weapons
as he avoided S.W.A.T. teams, tracking dogs, and other law officers
during the six days of his life as a fugitive. Both weapons are considered assault weapons.
The top weapon is a Ruger Mini–Thirty 7.62 calibre weapon with a night scope,
and the weapon shown on the bottom is a Ruger Mini–14 .223 calibre weapon
that has been modified to act as an automatic weapon.
Sluder dropped the Mini–14 Saturday morning, but was arrested with the Mini–Thirty in his possession.
When officers observed the vehicle of a known associate of Sluder’s make its way down New Hope Club Road, they stopped the vehicle and discovered Sluder inside.
Det. Chris Clinton, Cpl. Kyle Armstrong, and Sgt. Joe Long made the arrest of Sluder, and were immediately joined by the rest of the surveillance team which included Lt. Mike Gobble, Det. Frank Copeland, Lt. Adam Smith, Capt. Mike Mabry, and Dep. Steven Patterson.
Sluder is cooperating with investigators while he is currently being held at the Gilmer County Detention Center without bond. He is being held on one charge of domestic violence and one count of burglary. He faces at least two more counts of burglary and counts of a convicted felon with a firearm.
Nicholson told the Times-Courier, “I am very appreciative of all of the assistance we received during this incident, and I am very proud of our officers who worked countless hours on this and ultimately made the arrest.
“I would also like to thank the local restaurateurs who provided food for our officers and the visiting officers on short notice while everyone was working around the clock,” said the sheriff.
In addition to the Georgia State Patrol S.W.A.T. and aviation unit and the Cherokee County S.W.A.T. unit, Gilmer officers were also joined by Georgia Department of Natural Resources officers, the Forsyth County K-9 unit, the Acworth Police Department K-9 unit, and the Department of Corrections K-9 unit.