Deputies nab Bakersfield man wanted for homicide

ST. GEORGE – Deputies arrested a California man Monday night who is suspected of being involved in a murder in Bakersfield, California.

James Franklin Fain, 44, of Bakersfield, was arrested without incident in the MT Saddles Steak House parking lot, located at 1090 North Highway 18 in Dammeron Valley, on an out-of-state warrant for homicide published on the  National Crime Information Center database.

James Franklin Fain of Bakersfield, California, booking photo posted July 29, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
James Franklin Fain of Bakersfield, California, booking photo posted July 29, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Fain had been visiting two relatives in Newcastle prior to his arrest when he told them he had killed a man in Bakersfield, California, Washington County Deputy Brad Coleman said in his probable cause statement supporting the arrest. The relatives told Fain to turn himself in.

They then reported Fain to police dispatch, Coleman said in his statement, and informed dispatch they believed he was driving from Newcastle to the St. George area on state Route 18 in a red Ford truck with at least three firearms in his possession.

Dispatch confirmed Fain had a felony no-bail warrant for his arrest issued by California’s Kern County Superior Court for a homicide that was committed on or about July 24, and put out an attempt-to-locate alert on his Ford truck.

Coleman was stationed at a Veyo gas station watching for the Ford truck when he saw it pass by. He then radioed Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Judy Randall, who was stationed down the road, to inform her the Ford truck had just passed by and would soon be at her location.

The deputies followed the Ford truck until they could get closer to more deputies before making the felony-stop. As they approached Dammeron Valley, the Ford truck began to make a left-turn, Coleman said, at which point, the deputies pulled it over in the parking lot of the MT Saddles Steakhouse.

“I exited my vehicle and I could see the driver with both of his hands in the air,” Coleman said. “I pointed my rifle at the driver and ordered him to keep his hands up.”

Fain was detained and searched, Coleman said in the statement, and there were no firearms located on his person.

Fain was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility on the NCIC out-of-state warrant. He is currently being held without bail awaiting extradition.

The offense is for homicide and the agency in California has agreed to come get him,” Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Shauna Jones said, “once the legal proceedings are taken care of.”

An NCIC  “want” acts like an out-of-state hold, Jones said, until prosecutors can obtain a copy of the warrant during extradition proccedings. It requires an electronic “hit” process before an out-of-state want can be used to hold a person. She said:

For example, Bakersfield entered the want information into NCIC. Once our deputies came in contact with him, dispatch sent an electronic hit confirmation request to the agency in Bakersfield, asking if the want was valid, and if they will extradite from Washington County. Once the Bakersfield agency confirms both electronically, then the person can be taken to jail.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.

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