Shawnee man arrested in car theft
Police investigating carjackings

By ANN KELLEY

Published: October 4, 2008

SHAWNEE — Police are investigating the possibility that a man arrested in connection with a car theft this week could be tied to two recent carjackings.

Melton Thomas Jim, 20, of Shawnee was arrested Tuesday accused of stealing a Ford Mustang parked in front a convenience store at 912 E Main.

A man believed to be his accomplice eluded police during a foot chase.

The two men could be the same masked bandits that carjacked women on Sept. 17 and 23, Shawnee police Lt. Roy Gribble said.

"Right now we don’t know for sure if it’s the same two guys or a group of guys,” Gribble said.

"All I can tell you is people around here are outraged about it.”

In Tuesday’s incident, a 22-year-old Seminole man told police he was in the store when two men wearing blue bandanas over their faces drove off in his car.

The theft was broadcast over police radios, and less than 10 minutes later an officer saw the car eastbound at Dunbar and Bell streets.

A chase ensued at speeds exceeding 80 mph until the driver crashed the Mustang near a railroad track on a dead-end street, police said.

Both men bailed from the car and ran in different directions.

Jim was captured after he fell into a culvert, Gribble said.

The second man was not found.

Jim was taken to Pottawatomie County jail.

His bail is set at $50,000.

Anyone with information about the crimes should call police at 273-2121.