On January 1, 2024, Hunt County Sheriff's Deputies successfully located and apprehended a wanted individual with an open warrant for failure to appear in court. The fugitive, identified as 43-year-old James Lee Smith of Hawk Cove, Texas, attempted to flee but was captured after a foot chase.
Smith faces charges of evading arrest with a previous conviction, with a bond set at $7,000. Additionally, there is an open warrant (failute to appear/possession of a controlled substance) issued by the 196th District Court-Hunt County, and bond for that charge was denied. This case stems from an arrest on April 20, 2023, conducted by the Hawk Cove Police Department. On that case, his bond was set at $125,000, but was forfeited in September for violating the terms of the bond. Smith spent nearly four months in jail and was released on August 9, 2023.
This is not Smith's first encounter with law enforcement. In November 2019 and again in August 2020, he was arrested by the West Tawakoni Police Department for evading arrest with a vehicle.
