Police: Kan. hostage taker to face Colo. charges

DOVER, Kan. — A fugitive who eluded police for two days was captured in Kansas after he took two newlyweds hostage in their home, only to fall asleep when they gave him pillows and blankets.

Now the suspect, Jesse Dennis Dimmick, is expected to be taken back to Colorado to face charges in a motel slaying there, authorities said late Saturday.

The 23-year-old was arrested after the couple slipped out unharmed when he dozed off and police stormed the home in Dover, a tiny town about 15 miles west of Topeka.

Dimmick was shot when authorities rushed in and later underwent surgery, though his injuries weren’t considered life threatening. Topeka Police Capt. Jerry Stanley said Dimmick had a weapon, but wouldn’t elaborate.

Dimmick — also suspected in burglaries in Colorado, North Carolina and Louisiana — was shot once in the upper left part of his chest, said Kansas attorney general spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett.

The couple, Jared and Lindsay Rowley, were held captive for about 2 1/2 hours. Family members said the couple told them Dimmick had a pocket knife and pushed his way in the home after crashing a car.

Police said it was one of two vehicles Dimmick stole and wrecked as he fled Colorado following a killing at a motel Thursday night in Aurora, a Denver suburb.

“The suspect ended up having a couple of accidents along the way,” Stanley said. “It was a pursuit that ended up in the front yard” of the couple’s home.

Family members said they received text messages from the couple, married just last week, while they were inside the house and passed the messages on to authorities. They said Lindsey Rowley was studying criminal justice at Kansas State University.

“They didn’t know where he came from. They hadn’t heard anything,” said Brenda Sage, Lindsay Rowley’s aunt. Another aunt, Janet Sage Bruce, said: “They were watching ‘Patch Adams’ on the TV.”

Aurora, Colo., police said in a statement that Dimmick was being held without bond for investigation of murder in the first degree and theft by receiving. Another man sought in the motel killing, Shayne Michael Miller, was arrested Friday in Salina, about 120 miles west of Topeka. Miller was also being held without bond for felony murder and theft by receiving.

It wasn’t clear whether either Miller or Dimmick had an attorney.

On Friday, sheriff’s deputies in Geary County, which is about 50 miles east of Salina, began chasing Dimmick after learning the vehicle he was driving was stolen in Greeley, Colo., a town some 500 miles away. Dimmick wrecked the vehicle during the pursuit and fled on foot.

Police spotted him Saturday in a second stolen vehicle, authorities said.

Associated Press writer P. Solomon Banda in Denver contributed to this report.