Mississippi manhunt leads to arrest of man wanted in sexual assault of disabled woman

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Woodville Police Chief Lemuel Rutledge Sr. said a man accused of sexually assaulting a disabled woman at a Woodville convenience store was arrested Sunday after a 37-hour manhunt.

After multiple agencies assisted the department in locating 24-year-old Jagdeep Sura, it was the police chief who spotted him.

“I was speaking with some residents and telling them what he looked like, and they started pointing at me,” Rutledge said, adding they were truly pointing behind him to Sura walking along U.S. 61 right at the Woodville city limits.

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“He tried to run and I immediately notified other agencies that were there still searching the area and we all converged on him at one time,” Rutledge said.

Rutledge thanked both local, surrounding and state agencies that assisted in the search, including Wilkinson County Sheriff’s Office and constables, the fire department, Woodville code enforcement officers, the Centerville Police Department and the Angola Chase Team with its K9 unit.

Sura has been charged with one count of rape on a vulnerable person and simple assault. He currently has no bond pending arraignment, Rutledge said.

“On Friday, we received a call from an employee of Flicks convenience store stating that a sexual assault had occurred on a disabled victim on Thursday,” Rutledge said. “He came in from California and started working there in the store two weeks ago. After we got the information on what happened, we began reviewing video footage in the store. … I advised the store manager that we needed to speak with him and discovered he fled out the back door through the warehouse.”

Woodville police took to social media Saturday and asked for the public’s help in locating Sura, sharing security camera photos of him.