On August 26th, 2026, at approximately 4:00 p.m. Deputy Steven Murry was sitting in the parking lot of the old Princeton gas station at the intersection of Highway 9 and Highway 8 when he observed a silver in color Honda passenger car traveling southbound on Highway 9. Deputy Murry turned around in the parking lot and started traveling southbound behind the vehicle when the Honda saw me then made a quick turn into the Princeton Community Center property.
Deputy Murry turned around up the road and was going to make contact with the vehicle as it was never seen around the area nor around that property before. As Deputy Murry was pulling up to the driveway of the property, He noticed a black male wearing a white shirt and dark color pants walking around to the corner of the building with a gas can in his hand. The male quickly disappeared and fled on foot behind the building into the woods as Deputy Murry arrived to make contact with him.
Deputy Murry ran the license plate on the vehicle which came back as a fictitious license plate that did not belong on the Honda and also showed the driver of the vehicle who was identified as Jason Rhodes to have multiple warrants for his arrest out of 3 different counties. Deputy Murry made multiple attempts to contact Rhodes by yelling his name and advising him to come out of the woods.
Rhodes continued to run and flee further into the woods hiding from Deputy Murry. Several more deputies with the Dallas County Sheriffs Office arrived on scene to provide assistance in locating Rhodes. Moro Creek Towing was called to take possession of the vehicle as it was now abandoned in the parking lot of the Princeton Community Center.
Deputies received numerous calls from numerous people about Rhodes running through back yards, hiding behind churches, and as soon as law enforcement would enter the area, he would run back into the woods to hide from deputies.
As it started getting later in the evening and the sun had went down, Deputies started receiving calls about a male wearing a reflective vest trying to stop people traveling down highway 9 asking for a ride. Deputies rode up and down the entire highway and side roads attempting to locate Rhodes as he continued to flee from law enforcement.
Deputy Murry received a phone call from central dispatch advising that Rhodes was on the phone with 911 and was trying to ask about how he needed to get his vehicle back. Rhodes was advised that he needed to go to the Dallas County Sheriffs Office and speak with a deputy about picking up the car.
Rhodes gave dispatch a fake name trying to hide his identity and also would not advise where he was located due to him still trying to evade law enforcement. Rhodes finally said that he would meet a deputy at the Sheriffs office but backed out at the last moment and went to the Baileys Gas Station on West 4th and North Moro.
Deputy Murry arrived at the gas station and located Rhodes walking across the parking lot to speak with a Fordyce PD Officer. Deputy Murry immediately made contact with Rhodes and quickly placed him in custody with no incident.
