Fugitive Captured in Franklin County

A fugitive who has been on the run in Franklin County since last week is now in custody.

37-year old Robert Jacob Huckaby was captured by Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies Tuesday morning near Carnesville.

Early Tuesday morning, a woman called Franklin County 911 to report a man fitting Huckaby’s description, was trying to break into her home.

She said the man ran off and Sheriff’s deputies descended on an area near Brown Road and Highway 59 in Carnesville.

“Law Enforcement was able to setup a perimeter where K9 teams from the Lee Arrendale K9 tracking were deployed on Interstate 85 around
the north bound weight station,” Franklin County Sheriff Steve Thomas said Tuesday afternoon. “Officers with the Franklin County Sheriff, Georgia
MCCD, Georgia State Patrol, and Ga. DNR were able to maintain a secure
perimeter that extended from the North Bound weight station to Brown Road.”

Nearby Carnesville Elementary School and the Franklin County Middle School were put on lockdown.

Over the next couple of hours, deputies using eye witness reports and tracking dogs pursued Huckaby as he ran back and forth between some woods and the North Fork of the Broad River along Highway 59 just across from the elementary school.

Huckaby was eventually captured about 10a Tuesday morning

According to Franklin County Sheriff Steve Thomas, on March 14 deputies made a traffic stop on a vehicle on Interstate 85 northbound near Exit 173 in Lavonia.

When deputies ran the vehicle’s tag it came back to Huckaby who was wanted for a parole violation.

During the stop, Huckaby bolted from the vehicle and ran.

The search for him has continued every day since then using K-9 tracking dogs, law enforcement vehicles and helicopters.

On Sunday, Lavonia Police blanketed the area along the Interstate and Highway 59 with extra patrols in an effort to find Huckaby.

Then on Monday, Carnesville and Lavonia Elementary schools, along with the Middle School were put on soft lockdown as a precautionary measure.

Sheriff Steve Thomas said Monday he was confident Huckaby was still that area.

Huckaby has a criminal record dating back to 2000 and had been released from state prison on parole in October 2017 after serving four years of a five-year sentence on multiple charges out of Morgan County.

Huckaby is being held in the Franklin County Detention Center charged with obstruction of an officer, giving false name, possession of marijuana, possession of a firearm by convicted felon, and an active Georgia parole warrant.