Atchison police make multiple arrests in weekend crime spree

A South 7th Street disturbance, a Walmart theft call and a drug arrest near Dam 1 sent Atchison police across town over the weekend, ending with multiple arrests and every suspect booked into the Atchison County Jail.

Just after 3 p.m. April 25, officers responded to a disturbance at a residence in the 600 block of South 7th Street. Police Chief Mike Wilson said 50-year-old Sarah Crawford of Atchison was taken into custody for criminal trespass after allegedly trying to bite an officer and resisting arrest. The requested charges in the case included criminal trespass, assault on a law enforcement officer and interference with law enforcement. Crawford’s bond was set at $2,500.

A separate case unfolded shortly after 6 p.m. Friday at Walmart, 1920 U.S. 73, where a theft investigation led to the arrest of two women from St. Joseph, Missouri. One of them, 34-year-old Christian Chavez, faced a theft charge. Police also said one of the two women was found with fentanyl and drug paraphernalia, turning a retail theft call into a broader drug case at one of the city’s busiest commercial stops.

The weekend roundup also included an arrest scene near Dam 1, where two people were taken into custody after officers found controlled substances in their vehicle. Taken together, the calls covered a residential block, a major store and a public recreation area, showing how quickly routine patrol work in Atchison can shift from a neighborhood disturbance to a retail theft complaint and then to drug enforcement.

Wilson, who has served the Atchison Police Department since 1977, leads a department that says its work includes patrol, investigations, animal control, K-9, Special Response Team, Motorcycle Patrol and Bicycle Patrol. In Atchison County, which has a population of more than 16,000, the weekend arrests landed in the same public-safety lane residents watch closely: theft at a major retailer, disorder in a neighborhood and controlled-substance cases that keep pressure on local enforcement and the county jail. The repeated attention around Walmart and fentanyl also fits a pattern in recent local police activity, underscoring how often the same trouble spots return to the weekend report.