Lebanon LPR camera leads to arrest of Indiana fugitive
LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) — A dangerous fugitive from Indiana, who has spent the last 20 years in and out of prison, is being held in a Middle Tennessee jail while awaiting extradition back to the Hoosier State.
According to the Lebanon Police Department, a tip from a neighboring law enforcement agency and a network of license plate recognition (LPR) cameras covering most thoroughfares around the city led an alert officer to the ex-con’s location.
Body camera footage obtained by News 2 shows the officer pulling up to a white pickup truck. That officer circled around the truck and found 44-year-old Louie Allen Lawson standing by the driver’s door.
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Officer: “Put your hands up! Hands up! What’s your name?”
Lawson: “Name’s Lou.”
Officer: “Got any weapons on you?”
Lawson: “No, sir.”
The officer cuffed the fugitive, and when Lawson asked what the problem was, the officer said he had warrants out of Indiana for his arrest.
A search of the truck yielded a 9mm gun with the serial numbers scratched off. Police said they also found 10 grams of methamphetamine and multiple needles.
“It’s like super fine crushed,” the officer described on the body cam video.
During this interaction with officers, Lawson was calm, but a look at his criminal record out of Indiana revealed that has not always been the case.
According to his lengthy arrest history out of Harrison County, Indiana, in 2017, officers responded to a home invasion call where the intruder shoved a long gun in the face of the homeowner. The homeowner told officers he was so scared that he ran into a closet and kicked a hole through the wall to escape.
The woman who was allegedly with Lawson called authorities saying she didn’t want to go into home, but she claimed the ex-con had a 30-30 rifle and threatened to kill her if she didn’t accompany him. According to a supplemental report about the incident, she accused Lawson of saying he had already killed three people and didn’t care.
There was nothing in the reports to verify that Lawson has killed anyone.
Per the report, the woman told officers that, while holding the homeowner at gunpoint, Lawson said, “Who’s the b**** now?”
Officers later found Lawson’s rifle, which was fully loaded with a bullet in the chamber.
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Lawson’s reason for being in Lebanon is currently unknown. However, authorities said he was with a woman who was cooperative and was not charged.
Lawson’s criminal history shows he has been in and out of prisons multiple times since the early 2000s. In 2002, he was released from prison for receiving stolen property; in 2013, he served time for forgery, counterfeiting, fraud, and theft; and in 2019, he was back in prison for auto theft and receiving stolen auto parts.
“Fortunately, the individual did not grab the pistol that was in the truck, and it’s a good day for everybody,” said Master Patrol Officer Richard Clark with the Lebanon Police Department.
According to Clark, Lebanon has close to three dozen LPR cameras and more are coming soon. He said the cameras are like an extra officer on every major street corner.
“He’s a felon, in possession of a firearm, with narcotics, quite a bit of narcotics at that, so this is an individual we do not want in our city,” Clark told News 2. “Fortunately, for our license plate readers and our officers, they did a good job.”
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Officials said Lawson is currently being held in the Wilson County Jail, charged with alteration of serial numbers, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of drug paraphernalia, and being a fugitive from justice. There is a hold on him for Indiana law enforcement.
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