FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. – A Franklin County, Missouri, man wanted for sexual assault and other crimes was located across the river in Illinois and taken into custody on Tuesday morning.
In a statement posted to Facebook, the Fairview Heights Police Department said its officers received a tip that an armed and dangerous felon was staying at the Super 8 Hotel to evade capture.
Police said the suspect, identified as Jared H. Combs, 39, was known to be armed, was under the influence of drugs, was suicidal, and had previously made bombs and attacked law enforcement.
Officers went to the hotel around 10 a.m. and saw Combs walking his dog in the parking lot.
When the officers went to arrest Combs, police said he resisted arrest and fell backward into a deep ravine. Police used a Taser on Combs, but he made it into the northside wood line.
Police requested help from other agencies, including manpower, K9 units, drones, and air support.
A drone operator spotted Combs approximately an hour later. Police said Combs was taken into custody without further incident just northwest of the railroad tracks.
Police said they found a gun in the ravine where Combs had fallen and a second firearm in his hotel room. Combs was taken to the St. Clair County Jail to await extradition.
The Fairview Heights Police Department said Combs’ dog was unharmed in the ordeal.
The Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had charged Combs on Oct. 18 with second-degree sodomy, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree domestic assault, and second-degree domestic assault. The court-approved arrest warrant included a stipulation of no bond.
According to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office’s probable cause statement, the crimes took place on Aug. 23. Combs got into an argument with a woman in her camper, struck her repeatedly, then fired a gun to scare her when she attempted to leave in her car.
Combs got in the car and drove the woman back to a residence they shared. The sheriff’s office said he struck her with the butt of the gun while driving and even slammed on the breaks so she would hit her head on the dashboard.
When they arrived at the home, the sheriff’s office said Combs punched and kicked the woman, then forced her to crawl on her hands and knees to a window so Combs could climb inside. Combs then pulled the woman into the residence, attacked her again, threatened to kill her, and then made her perform a sex act on him.
The woman eventually waited for Combs to fall asleep before she snuck out of the house and drove away.
Combs has a lengthy criminal history, including a 2021 conviction for unlawful possession of an explosive, as well as arrests for assault, domestic violence, and unlawful use of a weapon.