By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
A recently discharged felon was arrested last week in Hays following a reported string of vehicle burglaries that led to a vehicle theft and crash.
Around 2:49 a.m. Dec. 6, the Hays Police Department received a report of a break-in in progress of a vehicle on the 400 block of East Sixth, according to HPD Police Chief Don Scheibler.
The caller said the suspect had a gun, dropped it and picked it up, but according to HPD Deputy Chief Brian Dawson, no weapon was located by police.
Following the report, officers began searching the area for a suspect when another report came in from someone nearby saying they heard tires squealing and a crash, Scheibler said.
That person reported seeing someone who matched the description from the earlier incident flee the scene, and the search moved to the area of the crash.
Isaiah Tai Simpson, 21, was located shortly after and detained after a brief altercation with officers.
Within the crashed vehicle, police reported finding items from other suspected vehicle burglaries.
Simpson was arrested on suspicion of theft, burglary, felony interference, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and driving while suspended.
Dawson said three vehicles were believed to burglarized by Simpson during the evening.
Simpson was previously convicted of aggravated burglary and burglary of a motor vehicle stemming from two incidents in October 2017. He was discharged from the Kansas Department of Corrections on Oct. 5 from those convictions, according to online records.