Accused Cop Killer Steven Wiggins Arrested

BON AQUA, TN -- After a 48-hour manhunt, Steven Wiggins, the man accused of shooting and killing Dickson County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Daniel Baker, has been arrested in Hickman County, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says.

Wiggins has been on the run since Wednesday morning when, according to authorities, he shot Baker after a car chase. Wiggins was taken into custody by Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Kevin Burch on Stinson Road near Pumpkin Branch Road, very close to the crime scene, according to THP Col. Dereck Stewart, coincidentally in his first day as colonel, who said that Burch saw a person near the wood line and approached him, noticing tattoos and other details that matched Wiggins' description. Trott said Burch drew his weapon and that Wiggins was compliant with his orders. He declined to say if Wiggins was armed, citing an ongoing investigation. Wiggins is being treated for minor injuries at a hospital and will be booked on his release, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Susan Niland. Sheriff Jeff Bledsoe said Wiggins is being held in Baker’s handcuffs.

His alleged accomplice, Erika Castro-Miles, 38, was arrested Wednesday.

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During a Friday press conference, Bledsoe became choked up as he thanked law enforcement who assisted in the search and then had to pause as he read a statement from Baker's wife, Lisa, who asked the community to teach the couple's young daughter, Meredith, about her late father. The sheriff said that Wiggins' capture is just the first step in his department and Baker's family getting closure, which will include a period of mourning and then Wiggins' prosecution.

"If they have to wheel me into the courthouse, I will be there," Bledsoe said.

District Attorney General Ray Crouch said the state will seek the maximum sentence for Wiggins and Castro-Miles.

“Based upon the evidence and aggravating factors in this case, the State will be seeking the death penalty for both defendants. The defendants are without bail and we will argue against any request for bail," he said in a statement.

According to the TBI, Baker was dispatched to a report of a suspicious vehicle near San Vineyard Road around 7 a.m. Wednesday. After losing touch with Baker, the sheriff's department tracked his car using GPS and an officer from another agency found him dead in his patrol car about two miles away. Video evidence was recovered, the TBI said, linking Wiggins to the shooting.

Wiggins allegedly took Baker's gun and car after the shooting. Investigators allege Castro-Miles was with Wiggins and saw the murder. She arrested Wednesday afternoon, discovered hiding under a house.

Baker, who did a tour in Iraq during a stint as a Marine, is a well-known officer with the DCSO, having single-handedly stopped a drunken gunman who fired four shots into the air outside of Dickson's Renaissance Center during a performance of "Mary Poppins" where he was working as security in March. In 2013, he helped rescue a woman who was trapped inside a pick-up truck in a Charlotte creek. He leaves behind a wife and child. Visitation for Baker will be Monday, June 4, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Dickson. Another visitation will be held on Tuesday at 10 a.m. until the funeral service begins at 1 p.m., also at the church.

Investigators began searching for Wiggins in the vicinity of Bear Creek Valley Road and Tidwell Switch, a densely wooded area near the Hickman County line, shortly after Baker's body was discovered, but the search stretched into a second and then early into a third day. By Thursday afternoon, the TBI said it had received nearly 150 tips, though none had panned out. Federal, state and local agencies descended on Dickson and Hickman counties to aid in the search, which also included K-9 units and aerial searches.

Wiggins had been arrested Tuesday following a domestic incident. A woman, now known to be Castro-Miles, told investigators Wiggins slapped her and pulled her hair before pointing a gun at her and threatening to kill her.

Wiggins allegedly told the investigating officer he'd been smoking marijuana and using meth all day. He was charged with assault and theft of Castro-Miles' 1998 Saturn.

Wiggins has been arrested for domestic or aggravated assault at least eight times since 2006.

In a 2016 incident, he was alleged to have been holding his girlfriend at knifepoint at a Fairview hotel and charged at officers attempting to arrest him. He was hit with a Taser but pulled the barbs from his chest, according to an affidavit, and once he was restrained, became "combative" while in the patrol car.
According to the Tennessee Department of Correction, he was set to report for community supervision earlier this year but did not do so and he is currently in "absconded" status, essentially marking him as a TDOC fugitive.

After the shooting, Wiggins was added to the TBI's Most Wanted list.

Image via TBI