TBI: Robbery suspect on most wanted list captured in Myrtle Beach

A Jacksboro man who is a robbery suspect on the state’s most wanted list was captured Friday night in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, authorities said. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Lonnie Vann is wanted by the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office and the TBI on two counts of armed robbery from a December 5 incident on Deerfield Way in Lafollette.

Vann, a Jacksboro resident and former Campbell County middle school teacher, was added to the TBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list one week ago. He was the most recent addition to the list.

In a press release Saturday, the TBI said special agents developed leads that Vann was in South Carolina. At about 7:30 p.m. Friday, Myrtle Beach police officers spotted the white Chevy Captiva that Vann was driving on Highway 501, the release said.

Vann, 44, was taken into custody without incident following a traffic stop, the TBI said. Officers with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force helped apprehend Vann.

He is currently being held in the Myrtle Beach Jail without bond pending a hearing before a judge, the release said. He is expected to be held on a fugitive from justice warrant until he can be extradited to Tennessee.

WYSH Radio in Clinton reported that the victims of the alleged robbery, a married couple, were acquaintances of Vann, and they said that he robbed them at gunpoint.

At the time of the alleged robbery, Vann was free on bond after being indicted by a Campbell County grand jury in July on charges of solicitation of a minor, assault, and tampering with evidence, WYSH said. Those charges stem from an incident in October 2013 in which he is accused of taking a 13-year-old girl off campus to the parking lot of Coolidge First Baptist Church and trying to hug and kiss her.  The indictment also accused Vann of erasing digital information on the hard drive of a video surveillance system at the church.

Separately this month, the TBI also added a Knoxville man to the Top 10 Most Wanted list. Jabriel Aireece Linzy is wanted by the Knoxville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on the charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and employing a firearm during a dangerous felony, the TBI said. Linzy has been charged with the drive-by shooting death of Dominique Johnson on October 3, 2014, authorities said.

Linzy, 18, is described as an African American male with black hair and brown eyes. He is approximately 5 foot, 8 inches tall and weighs about 185 pounds, a press release said. Linzy is an active Rollin 60’s street gang member and is believed to be armed with a handgun and should be considered dangerous, the TBI said.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Linzy is urged to call TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND (1-800-824-3463). There is a $1,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.