Fugitive captured in Lafayette County after striking sheriff’s patrol vehicle

A multi-county fugitive’s run through Lafayette County turned into a dangerous pursuit after James C. Willard, also identified locally as James Cameron Willard, allegedly struck a Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department patrol vehicle and fled on foot. The confrontation on April 10 put deputies, Oxford officers and nearby residents at risk as law enforcement scrambled to stop a man already wanted in three jurisdictions.

Deputies got the first call that Willard had been seen in Lafayette County, then worked with the Oxford Police Department to locate him. According to local reports, Oxford police found Willard before the chase began. Willard then drove off, and during the pursuit he allegedly hit a sheriff’s patrol vehicle. The crash escalated a search that had already involved officers from two agencies and raised the risk of a wider pursuit through Lafayette County roads and neighborhoods.

Willard and another man, Hayden Boyd, then ran on foot. Deputies later found both men. By that point, Willard was facing more than one case: an outstanding felony fleeing-and-eluding warrant in Panola County, an active misdemeanor domestic-violence and simple-assault warrant in Lafayette County, and a role as a suspect in a felony fleeing incident involving Oxford police.

Court records and local reporting say Willard was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer after the patrol vehicle was struck. He was also charged with felony fleeing and eluding law enforcement and conspiracy. A justice court judge set his bond at $1 million when he appeared in court on Sunday, April 12, 2026.

Willard remains held at the Lafayette County Detention Center on a hold for Panola County because of the active felony warrant there and on a hold for the Mississippi Department of Corrections for a probation violation. The case underscores the strain a fugitive can place on local law enforcement, especially in a county where the sheriff’s office says it has 26 deputies working four 12-hour shifts to cover calls, patrols and arrests across Lafayette County.