An Owensboro man who was on the run from police has been arrested after he was found at the Wingfield Inn & Suites with the woman who had been arrested during the initial incident the day prior but had since been released. Detectives found various amounts of cocaine, meth, fentanyl, and marijuana, as well as cash, according to Kentucky State Police. The man also faces wanton endangerment charges after police allege he nearly ran over an officer while fleeing a traffic stop Thursday.
Records obtained by Owensboro Times on Saturday show 37-year-old Cornelius Harris was arrested by KSP at 9:35 p.m. Friday. KSP was searching for Harris following a Thursday incident that began when a trooper conducted a traffic stop at a truck stop on US 60 East. There was an active felony warrant for his arrest.
According to a citation, Harris was found in a car with Amanda Smith, the 34-year-old Louisville woman who was arrested during the traffic stop. (Smith was lodged at the Daviess County Detention Center Thursday night. She was re-arrested Friday night and is again lodged at DCDC. Read more about the initial incident here.)
Per the citation, when the two were located at Wingfield, Harris exited the vehicle and pulled out a pistol before tossing it under a nearby truck. Troopers found “a large number of suspected drugs and paraphernalia” upon searching the vehicle, and Harris had “a large undisclosed amount of cash in his hoodie pocket,” all according to the report.
Troopers then searched the room the two were staying in, with the report saying there was a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the room. The citation says more drugs and cash were “in plain view.”
Additionally, “clothes were located inside of the room that Harris was wearing the day prior when he was caught on surveillance footage fleeing from a collision on foot after fleeing from a traffic stop,” the report says.
No additional information about Smith’s second arrest was included in the citation. Her current charges listed on the DCDC site are operating a vehicle while under the influence of a substance and hindering prosecution or apprehension.
The citation lists nine charges for Harris. Six of those are trafficking charges, for the following drugs: cocaine (4 grams or more), fentanyl (28 grams or more), meth (2 grams or more), marijuana (8 oz to 5 lbs), and drug unspecified Schedule 1 & 2.
Harris also faces at least five charges for the original incident Thursday, including two counts of felony wanton endangerment of a police officer and felony fleeing/evading police.
