Harper Located And Arrested After Being On The Run For Over A Year

Law enforcement agencies from White and Edwards County were involved Thursday with the capture of a Carmi man known to be wanted on multiple warrants in three Illinois counties.

According to White County Sheriff Jordan Weiss, on the evening of April 6^th,  Deputy Matt Wicker with the assistance of a Grayville Officer received information on the possible location in Grayville of 23-year-old Leif E. Harper of Carmi. Harper is known to have warrants out of White, Edwards and Will County.

Deputy Wicker along with Grayville Police, the Illinois State Police, Edwards County Sheriff’s Office, Albion Police Department and Carmi Police Department located a vehicle known to have been driven by Harper or had transported Harper in the past at the Martin Street Apartment complex in Grayville. The deputy and the Grayville officer approached the vehicle and identified the driver as Larry Tyree. As officers were speaking to Tyree, the deputy spoke to three females in reference to Harper’s whereabouts. All three stated they had not seen Harper in some time.

After further investigation by the Grayville officer, it was revealed that Harper was inside an apartment in the complex. All law enforcement agencies converged on the apartment that Harper was allegedly in. The Grayville officer knocked on the door and Harper answered the door with his hands up. Harper was placed into custody without incident and taken to the White County Jail. His bond was set at $10,500 cash.

Harper has been wanted and on the run since early 2022. There have been multiple attempts to locate and arrest Harper for the active warrants but attempts were unsuccessful until now. Harper has been implicated but was never proven guilty in numerous incidents in multiple different areas around the southern portion of Illinois.

Sheriff Weiss and Grayville Police Chief Robert Hatcher would like to thank the Grayville Police Department, Edwards County Sheriff’s Department, the Illinois State Police, Albion Police Department and Carmi Police Department for the diligent work in this incident.