By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A drunken hitchhiker being shuttled from county to county by sheriff’s deputies turned out to be a wanted fugitive in the county from which he had just departed.

Timothy Hahn was dropped off early Saturday at Flying Eagle convenience store in Florence by Chase County’s undersheriff so Marion County deputies could take him on to Peabody or Newton.

He ended up being taken to Strong City instead because he was wanted by Emporia police department for a crime that actually took place in Chase County.

According to Emporia police Captain Ray Mattas, Lyon County deputies took the man back to Chase County after learning the incident that led to him being wanted had actually happened in Chase County.

Mattas said police had thought the incident reported to them had happened at Flying J truck stop in Emporia when they issued a bulletin seeking Hahn.

Marion County deputies had been asked to ferry Hahn from Flying Eagle in Florence to either Peabody or the Harvey County line. But before they could do so, they were diverted to a fight at Marion’s VFW.

Marion County undersheriff Larry Starkey said Marion County deputies learned Hahn was wanted in Emporia before they reached Florence and ended up searching for him along US-50. A passer-by called 911 and reported the hitchhiker.

When deputies searched the hitchhiker before putting him in a squad car, they found a knife, which they seized as evidence before taking him to Strong City.

The Chase County sheriff’s department did not return a call.