NASHVILLE — Authorities are searching for a fugitive who evaded capture in Berrien County Monday evening, according to the sheriff’s department.

The Berrien County Sheriff’s Office received word a man wanted on outstanding warrants from Oklahoma might be hiding in the area, said Deputy Mike Register.

Register said he headed to a residence on Luke Road where the fugitive was supposed to be staying, and he got within 200 yards of the house when he came across the suspect on a dirt road.

“He tried to give me a false name, but I was able to identify him,” Register said.

An “altercation” followed when Register tried to arrest him, and the man bolted for nearby woods, he said.

Register followed, another “altercation” broke out and the suspect got away, he said. The sheriff’s office called in tracking dogs from the Georgia Department of Corrections and the Georgia State Patrol’s aviation unit, but the suspect had not been located as of noon Tuesday, he said.

Register identified the fugitive as Brandon Lee Holton, and said he was wanted in Oklahoma for robbery with a dangerous weapon and aggravated assault with a dangerous weapons. Holton is also wanted in Coffee County for probation violation, he said.

“An investigator in Oklahoma told me he was wanted for robbing a restaurant,” Register said.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.