After spotting Jeremy Maxton Cooke Wednesday afternoon and following a vehicle to a home on Friends Mission Road, members of the Patrick Sheriff’s Office surrounded the residence. Cooke, 24, whose address has been given as 102 Crosswinds Court, was located in a bedroom closet after officers received consent from the owner to search the premises.
Cooke had been a fugitive since May 4, 2009, when indictments were handed down against him after a 14-month covert narcotics investigation. Those indictments allege that Cooke sold methamphetamine and marijuana on several occasions between August and December of 2008.
He was wanted on charges including three counts of distribution of methamphetamine and one count each of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of an imitation controlled substance and distribution of marijuana.
After being indicted in Patrick County, Cooke was arrested in Surry County on Nov. 25 on a fugitive warrant that had been obtained based on the Virginia indictments, but was released under a $25,000 bond.
When that occurred, “we realized that the extradition process could potentially be a lengthy one and we knew that we needed to apprehend him in our state to avoid further delay,” Patrick Sheriff Dan Smith said.
Cooke’s apprehension came after Narcotics Investigator D.W. Rorrer and Sgt. E.J. O’Connell spotted him Wednesday afternoon.
“The longer a fugitive runs, the more desperate they become and the potential for violence increases,” the sheriff said, adding that Cooke was “safely taken into custody.” Lt. R.S. Coleman, deputies D.L. Foley and R.E. Howell Jr., the sheriff and Trooper A.G. Roberts of the Virginia State Police assisted in the arrest.
Cooke is being held in the Patrick County Jail in Stuart without privilege of bond.
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