This afternoon the Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office assisted the U.S. Marshall’s Office by arresting James Alan Garrett, 52 years of age, on an outstanding federal warrant. Garrett, who was paroled from Federal Prison after serving 23 years for Armed Robbery, was listed as a federal fugitive after he refused to report to his parole officer and boasted that he would never go back to prison. Officers began the search near Chireno where Garrett was supposed to have been living. He was not present at the residence when deputies arrived but was later located in the parking lot of a local nursing home located along U.S. 59 in Nacogdoches. After finding himself quickly surrounded by officers, Garrett was arrested without a struggle.
What was most significant about the timing of this arrest was the fact that Garrett appeared to be planning to commit another robbery this same day. At the time of his arrest Garrett was wearing two layers of clothing and was carrying items commonly used during the commission of a robbery. Garrett was wearing a set of dark colored clothing underneath a layer of red colored clothing so that his appearance could be quickly changed. Garrett was armed with what first appeared to be a semi-automatic hand gun, but turned out to be an air pistol concealed in the waistband of his pants. He had a mask (bandana), gloves and 9 mm ammunition in his pockets. Couple those facts with his past criminal history for armed robbery and it is very likely that an impending crime was prevented by his arrest.
Our officers did a great job of tracking this felon down and getting him back behind bars before he had the opportunity to victimize someone else. Garrett has been turned over to the custody of the U. S. Marshalls Service and is back in federal custody where he belongs.
