Suspects in Dec. 27 crime spree had lengthy criminal records

By John Howell Sr.
The two men whose crime spree wound through Batesville Dec. 27 had compiled lengthy records in Texas, Missouri and Kansas, Batesville Police Department Detective Captain Paul Shivers said.

Allen Eggmeyer, 26, and Michael Manis, 33, had hog-tied Billy Selby at his residence on Highway 32 in Tallahatchie County near Oakland on Christmas Day before looting his home and stealing his pickup, a 1999 Chevrolet Z71, according to a report in The Sun-Sentinel.

Selby’s driver’s license and other personal effects were discovered the next day in the parking lot at Dollar Tree in Batesville. Store workers notified police, Tallahatchie County Sheriff William Brewer told the Charleston newspaper.

Sardis police spotted the truck shortly after midnight Thursday and stopped it on Lee Street.
The officer spotted a handgun and took it for safe keeping while he checked the driver’s license and the tag on the vehicle.

Shots were fired at the officer and the pickup sped away, south on Highway 51 toward Batesville, Brewer said.

About 1:30 a.m., Batesville police spotted the stolen pickup and pursued it. A shot fired through the fleeing pickup’s back window struck the pursuing police car’s radiator and an electronic component, disabling the vehicle, Batesville Police Deputy Police Chief Don Province said.
Two officers in the car were uninjured.

“We were lucky this worked out the way it did and our officers were able to go home and see their families,” Shivers said.

About 1:30 a.m. a blazing pickup was reported behind homes on Pollard Street. Apparently the men had abandoned the vehicle, set if afire and fled on foot northeast toward Highway 51.
Province said although BPD officers have not yet had a chance to interview the suspects, there has been no indication that the men were previously familiar with the Batesville area.

Residents of north Batesville on Pollard Street were notified about the emergency manhunt by telephone, Mayor Jerry Autrey said. The mayor also said that frequency problems that persist between BPD radios and the radios of the Panola County Sheriff’s Dept. hindered communications between officers.

The suspects then allegedly kidnapped a man north of Batesville and forced him to take them to Horn Lake, where they released the victim who then contacted authorities. The manhunt that followed led to their arrest in Brinkley, Arkansas on Saturday.

Arkansas authorities also believe that Eggmeyer and Manis are responsible for the armed robbery of a West Memphis convenience store Thursday night, Brewer told the Sun-Sentinel.
BPD has charged the pair with arson and two counts each for aggravated assault on a police officer, Shivers said. They also face charges in Tallahatchie County, from the Sardis Police Department and in Arkansas.

Eggmeyer and Manis both have lengthy criminal histories, primarily for burglaries.

Manis has been convicted in Missouri, Texas and Kansas, Shivers said. Eggmeyer had been released from prison in Texas for being a felon in possession of a firearm, he said. Eggmeyer’s record also includes arson and criminal mischief.

The Tallahatchie sheriff told the Sun-Sentinel that Eggmeyer and Manis are thought to be old prison acquaintances.

He said the two were believed to have been staying with one of the men’s relatives near Enid in Yalobusha County before they began last week’s crime spree.