A career criminal who violently assaulted a Pettis County woman in a Sept. 3 home invasion has been arrested in Arkansas.
On Sept. 2, Daryl Jason Scarbrough was involved in an armed robbery-carjacking in Warrensburg where he stole a car and clothing from two college girls. Warrensburg police pursued the vehicle but Scarbrough was able to elude them. Warrensburg police’s investigation revealed he and a female by the name of Melissa Dorsey had stayed at a nearby hotel.
On Sept. 3, Sedalia Police began a pursuit of the vehicle, which fled west on 32nd Street. Scarbrough and Dorsey abandoned the vehicle and went in different directions on foot. Scarbrough fled into the Walnut Hills neighborhood and attacked a woman in her garage.
“We're going to take anything like that seriously,” Pettis County Sheriff Brad Anders said. “I went over the scene of the crime last night. And could tell them that this was a legitimate major violent crime that needed everyone's attention.”
Scarbrough had been recently paroled from the California prison system where he was a boss in the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. He was more than a match for the surprised grandmother who was knocked senseless by the first punch of many. Scarbrough was chased away by the woman’s husband.
“We’re just glad that she's OK and she made it out as well as she did,” Anders said. “It’s terrible when anything like that happens, which is why we took it so seriously and did everything we could to get him into custody in a timely manner.”
Other burglaries in the neighborhood yielded clues such as discarded shoes and clothing.
“You can make the immediate assumption that they were all connected and they wound up being all connected,” Anders said. “We were able to gather some evidence from both of those scenes that will assist in prosecution for both of those crimes.”
A Sept. 4 burglary was reported on Locust Lane and another burglary discovered by deputies led police to track a stolen Buick Enclave to McAnally Court in Sedalia. A chase later ensued, and the Buick crashed into a citizen’s vehicle and Jorge Esquivel, of Sedalia, was arrested.
On Sept. 5 SPD stopped another stolen vehicle associated with Scarbrough. During this interview, police learned of a potential vehicle Scarbrough and Dorsey may be in that was equipped with a GPS device. A subpoena was obtained, and GPS locations were provided.
On Sept. 6 Anders gained access to the GPS tracker and found the vehicle in Little Rock on its way towards Memphis. Anders called agencies along the way until he reached Arkansas police Troop D, who immediately located the vehicle, stopped it, and arrested Dorsey and a man identified as Matthew Yates, of Indiana.
On Sept. 7 Warrensburg police suggested the home invasion suspect might be Daryl Jason Scarbrough and facial recognition software out of the San Bernardino, California, Sheriff’s Department confirmed his identity. Anders, Pettis County Maj. Tollie Rowe and Warrensburg’s Detective Boles drove to Forrest City, Arkansas, where Dorsey was being held.
Interviews with Dorsey and Yates led officers to believe Scarbrough was in Arkansas.
Pettis County Prosecutor Phillip Sawyer and Pettis County Detective Sgt. Susan Clevenger presented the case to the Grand Jury and a warrant was issued for Scarbrough’s arrest. Anders contacted U.S. Marshals and Pulaski County, Arkansas, to request help in arresting Scarbrough.
On Sept. 10, Pulaski County was conducting a homicide investigation, in which Scarbrough matched the suspect description. After a lengthy investigation and persistent evasion, they were able to take Scarbrough into custody as he was found hiding in some bushes.
Scarbrough will eventually be held accountable for his crimes in Pettis County, but as the prime suspect in an Arkansas murder case, that may take some time.
Anders thanked all the citizens and law enforcement agencies involved for the capture of Scarbrough and the band of criminals that swept through Sedalia last week.
“It's a bad deal, but I want to thank everybody involved,” Anders said. “I know it's scary and that puts a lot more weight on me to try and get a quick resolution to it. That's all we've done for the past week, that's the only thing we've been focused on knowing this guy was going to continue to harm people.”
