Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department

An investigation into an abandoned car led to the arrest of a wanted fugitive from Oklahoma, Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun said a deputy discovered an unoccupied vehicle on Hwy 45 near Causeyville Road about 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. After running the registration, he learned the vehicle had been stolen from Hinds County.

After searching the area for the driver, Calhoun said, the investigation led deputies and Meridian Police officers to a restaurant on North Frontage Road, where, after searching the surrounding area, they located a suspect who gave officers false identification.

The suspect was taken to Lauderdale County Detention Facility where he was fingerprinted, and his identity was confirmed as Tyler Charles Payne, Calhoun said.

“Payne recently escaped from the Choctaw County, Oklahoma jail,” he said in a texted statement announcing the arrest.

Payne is being held in Lauderdale County Detention Facility pending his extradition to Oklahoma, where he had been held on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest and carjacking.