A federal fugitive was captured in DeKalb County Wednesday, as the result of an operation conducted by the DeKalb County Narcotics Unit and Sheriff’s Office Investigative Division in conjunction with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Aviation Unit and U.S. Marshals.

The suspect, 35 year old Weston Lee Tidwell of Rainsville, had an outstanding warrant for a federal probation violation.  

On the night of Wednesday, August 12th, Tidwell led deputies on a chase that started when he was witnessed traveling at an extremely high rate of speed on County Road 446 near the Pleasant Hill area.

The agencies involved worked to finally locate Tidwell in the Dutton Community of Jackson County – with a Jackson County Narcotics agent and several members of the Henagar Police Department also assisting in the apprehension.

DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said of the apprehension: “This was a great job by our guys working closely with our federal partners! This suspect needed to be in custody before his flight from justice caused someone to get hurt.”

“It’s clear that if our federal partners need to apprehend a suspect in this area the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office will answer the call and help get them into custody. Our deputies, agents, and investigators are second-to-none at getting a job done,” he said.

“I’d also like to give a big thanks to the ALEA Aviation Unit, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and the local agencies that helped out. Without their assistance, we may have come up empty handed today,” Welden said.