BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

WARFIELD — A routine morning in Warfield took a chaotic turn Tuesday when a Lovely man, known for his habit of running from law enforcement, was arrested after a bizarre incident at the Dempsey Apartment Complex.

Martin County Sheriff John Kirk found Joseph Christopher Jude, 43, passed out in a metal chair—moments before he jolted awake, fled and led deputies on yet another chase.

Kirk responded to a call about Jude removing window screens from apartments and carrying them through the parking lot.

“He was teetering back and forth,” Kirk said of Jude in the chair. “Someone said he ran head-first into a brick wall before he got on the chair.”

The sheriff recognized Jude.

“He has run from us and fought with us in the past,” he admitted

Hoping to avoid trouble, Kirk attempted to slap the cuffs on while Jude was still sleeping. No such luck.

The moment the steel touched his wrist, Jude jolted awake and began lashing out. He managed to break free and took off running.

A Dempsey custodian trailed him at a distance, keeping an eye on him. At the same time, Kirk relayed Jude’s path to Chief Deputy Sheriff Chris Kidd, who was already closing in.

The chase spilled onto Route 292, where Jude’s luck ran out when he ran into Kidd.

“Of course, he fled from Deputy Kidd and had to be taken down,” Kirk said matter-of-factly. “He didn’t say why he ran, but he always runs.”

On Jude, they found a small amount of marijuana, a couple of pipes, and a knife tucked into his back pocket.

“You have to be careful when you deal with these people,” said the sheriff. “You never know when they’re going to have a knife or a needle on them. You try to avoid wrestling too much with them because you will get stuck with a needle.”

Jude went to jail on charges of criminal mischief, public intoxication of a controlled substance, resisting arrest, fleeing or evading police, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana.