Drunk fugitive found in Jefferson Co. jail
By Elizabeth Billips Associate Editor

A stolen bottle of vodka was the ruin for a Lawrenceville man who tried to dodge Burke County deputies.

While officers spent last Tuesday night searching for Robert Brian McClellan, he was spending his 30th birthday in the Jefferson County Jail - sleeping off the drunk that led to his capture.

The search began late Tuesday morning when authorities from Lawrenceville asked deputies to serve a warrant on McClellan.

According to Capt. Frankie Parker of the Burke County Sheriff's Office, McClellan was wanted for robbery by sudden snatch and was believed to be at his grandmother's house on Tillman Road in Midville.

Deputies found him there, but McClellan gave them the slip when he asked if he could put on his shoes and bolted out of the backdoor instead.

They soon discovered that he'd broken into two trailers at a nearby hunting club … and fled on a stolen four-wheeler wearing newly acquired camouflage and boots. He'd also taken a supply of food and vodka.

McClellan apparently went right to work on the vodka. Deputies later learned he drove the four-wheeler to Vidette Country Store where he pumped $1.36 of gas and asked employees if they thought it would get him to Louisville.

They remembered McClellan because he was having trouble standing up.

Unbeknownst to officers, he did make it to the BP station in Louisville, but was arrested for public drunk after employees noticed he couldn't stand up.

The manhunt might have ended there if McClellan hadn't provided Louisville police with a fake name.

As it was, McClellan spent all night in jail while Burke County deputies spent the night in the woods looking for him.

The truth caught up with McClellan Wednesday morning when Capt. Parker called a Jefferson County investigator about an unrelated case and mentioned he was looking for a man on a four-wheeler.

"(The investigator) said 'hold on ... the city locked up a guy on a four-wheeler last night,'" Capt. Parker said.

Although the inmate had been booked in under the name "Newkirt," the investigator went into the jail and called out "Robert McClellan?"

After the inmate responded with a "yes," he was extradited to Burke County on two burglary charges.