Police arrest out-of-state fugitive passed out behind Ashland City Walmart

ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A welfare check on an unconscious person in Middle Tennessee Thursday afternoon led to the arrest of a man wanted out of Missouri.

On Thursday, Aug. 15, someone called the Ashland City Police Department about an unconscious man on the very hot pavement behind the Walmart along Highway 12.

When officers arrived, they found a man — later identified as 51-year-old Johnny Biggs Jr. — on his back with his head laying on a curb like it was a pillow. There was also a sweat stain on the cement.

As seen in the body camera footage, the officer donned gloves and then poked the man in the chest, asking, “Hey sir? Hey, you all right?”

Biggs was groggy as he opened his eyes, but he replied, “Yeah.”

According to police, the Missouri man was sweating profusely and seemed disoriented at the scene. The officer later told medics that Biggs smelled of liquor.

“What brings you to be laying on the concrete right here?” the officer inquired.

“Homeless,” Biggs mumbled.

“Homeless? You have no ID on you?” the officer asked.

“No sir,” Biggs answered.

“Just came to check on you because we just got a call saying there’s a white male, red shirt, blue jeans laying right here, sweating profusely, so we just gotta come out here to check you out, make sure you’re good to go,” the officer explained.

After a checking his Social Security Number, police determined that Biggs was a wanted man out of Oregon County, Missouri.

According to court records there, authorities arrested Biggs in June 2023 for second-degree assault. He later pleaded guilty to causing serious physical injury to an elderly person, which is a Class B felony.

Biggs was sentenced to seven years supervised probation through the Missouri Department of Corrections. Based on court documents, when Biggs violated a condition of that probation, he was entered into the system as a fugitive from justice.

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Ashland City officers took the 51-year-old to a local hospital, where he was cleared. Then, police took him to jail.

“Mr. Johnny, have you had any illegal drugs or anything today?” a jail employee inquired.

“Been on meth a few days,” Biggs mumbled. “I ain’t had none today.”

“Officer Brown did a great job of making sure he was getting the help he needed. [Brown] saw he was sweating, hot, so he offered him a bottle of water, let him sip on some water to cool down, definitely kept his cool, was nice to the guy,” ACPD Sgt. Alexis Duncan explained. “The guy never put up any argument or fight with Officer Brown.”

Biggs is currently being held in the Cheatham County jail. Authorities in Missouri confirmed they would be coming to pick him up soon.

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