Two people who fled traffic stop caught after Sunrise Beach lockdown
Sunrise Beach Village was put on lockdown on Sunday, June 25, as police searched for two people who fled from a routine traffic stop. The vehicle raced along Texas 71 to the Llano County town, where it was stopped and abandoned by the driver and passenger.
The driver, Clinton N. Johnson, 40, of Round Rock, was arrested on Sunday evening on a charge of felony evading arrest in a vehicle. The passenger, an unnamed 45-year old white man, was found on Monday morning, but no charges had been filed against him at the time of this story’s publication.
The Sunrise Beach Village Police Department issued a shelter-in-place order to residents at about 5 p.m. Sunday as law enforcement scoured the town for Johnson and his passenger. The men bailed out of their vehicle on Barbara Lane and ran, according to a police department media release.
Johnson believed he had a warrant out for his arrest when the traffic stop was initiated, which is why he ran, according to Sunrise Beach Village police. He was found within an hour about a quarter-mile from the vehicle, but his passenger remained elusive until Monday morning.
A resident, who wished to remain anonymous, spotted a suspicious person at about 7:20 a.m. Monday and called it in, Police Chief Laurie Brock said. Officers responded and discovered the person was the missing passenger, so they apprehended him.
No arrest was made as the man was cooperative and no warrant had been issued at the time he was found. His case is now being handled by the Texas Department of Public Safety, which might pursue a warrant for a Class B misdemeanor for fleeing from law enforcement on foot.
Neither man had apparent ties to Sunrise Beach Village. Johnson is currently being held at the Llano County Jail, and the passenger was given a ride out of town and dropped off closer to his Austin-area home.
“We did not know who they were,” Chief Brock told DailyTrib.com on Monday morning regarding why the department issued a shelter-in-place order. “We had no idea if they were dangerous or not, so we wanted to let the community know that they were loose in the area.”
The order was lifted at about 8:45 p.m. Sunday after law enforcement arrested the driver.
Several other agencies assisted with the manhunt and saturated Sunrise Beach Village with a heavy law enforcement presence, including DPS troopers, Texas game wardens, Llano County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and Lower Colorado River Authority rangers.
Residents also helped, calling the department with sightings that moved the search forward, Brock said.
“I think the community was a great help,” she said. “We had a great response out here.”
Sunrise Beach Village Mayor Chellie Stewart commended Brock on her communication throughout the manhunt.
“Laurie called me within moments (of the manhunt entering Sunrise Beach Village), as she often does when we have an event or situation,” Stewart told DailyTrib.com. “I think it was because of our communication that our citizens knew to call it in (when they spotted a suspicious person Monday morning). Chief Brock is well-respected and admired in this community.”