ELLIS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on theft charges. Just after 11:30a.m. during Friday’s flood in Hays, police were dispatched to report of a man taking a citizen’s 1997 Ford Explorer while it was out front of the convenience store at 703 Vine Street, according to Assistant Police Chief Brian Dawson.

The suspect who stole the vehicle drove south on Vine Street and left the vehicle in a field south of Hays.

The Kansas Highway Patrol, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office and the Hays Police Department established a perimeter and began searching for the suspect.

The suspect, later identified as 24-year-old Dru A. Stropes, was tracked down and apprehended by a Kansas Highway Patrol K9.

He is being held for Felony Theft of a vehicle in the Ellis County Jail.