Police hunt fugitive wanted on federal warrants

August 24, 2016 at 7:12 a.m. | Updated August 24, 2016 at 7:14 a.m.

by Jim Williamson

Little River County Sheriff's deputies and others make a plan before continuing the search for Christopher Whistle on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016 north of Ashdown, Ark. Christopher Whistle, of Texarkana, Ark., evaded police and fled on foot earlier Tuesday.
Little River County Sheriff's deputies and others make a plan before continuing the search for Christopher Whistle on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016 north of Ashdown, Ark. Christopher Whistle, of Texarkana, Ark., evaded police and fled on foot earlier Tuesday.

Law enforcement agencies have been using a helicopter, tracking dogs, deputies on horseback and four-wheel vehicles to track a fugitive Tuesday afternoon the Federal Bureau of Investigation wants on a federal drug warrants.

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The suspect, who ran into the woods about a mile north of Ashdown, Ark., is Christopher Whistle, 38, of Texarkana, Ark.

He is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs about 170 pounds and has brown hair and eyes. Whistle was wearing a red shirt over a white tank top, blue jeans and boots.

Little River County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dave Hall stopped Whistle's vehicle about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at the intersection of U.S. Highway 71 at Little River County Road 710. Whistle sped away as the law officer was approaching
his vehicle.

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The Associated Press

Radical Muslim preacher Abu Qatada sits in the back seat of a police vehicle as he leaves to Jordanian military court in Amman Sunday, July 7, 2013. A Jordanian military prosecutor says he has charged the radical Muslim preacher with conspiring to carry out al-Qaida-linked attacks on Americans, Israelis and other Westerners in this key U.S. ally. Abu Qatada, 53, arrived in Jordan earlier Sunday after being deported from Britain.

Whistle drove to the dead-end road on Little River County Road 710, where he jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the woods.

The manhunt started at the intersection across the Kansas City Southern railroad tracks.

The search includes the FBI, Arkansas State Police, the sheriff's department, Southwest Arkansas Drug Task Force, and the Nashville, Ark., Police K-9 dog.

Officers don't know if Whistle has a weapon.

Details were unavailable on why the FBI wanted Whistle regarding the federal drug warrants, said Sheriff Gary Gregory.

If Whistle is spotted call 9-1-1, said Gregory.

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