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The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.
Published June 18, 2025
Traffic stop leads to brief manhunt and arrest
CAMDEN COUNTY - A manhunt that took several hours to complete has resulted in an arrest.
Last Wednesday (June 11) Deputies from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) along with Camdenton City officers and the Missouri State Highway Patrol were searching in the Camdenton area for a white male suspect who fled a traffic stop on North State Highway 5 after allegedly attempting to take a deputy’s sidearm.
Local schools and daycare centers were notified of the situation. Oak Star Bank in Camdenton was advised to lock their doors for safety reasons, though customers who bank tellers knew were let in to do business.
The CCSO said if people see this subject to not approach him but call 911 immediately.
The suspect was described as a white male believed to be wearing blue jeans, only one shoe and no shirt.
At 10:35 a.m. the suspect was identified as William F Horrighs IV, 40 and is a career criminal with a violent history and was currently wanted for violating his parole.
The CCSO advised citizens and neighbors to secure their residences and vehicles by locking doors and windows and to call 911 if the subject is spotted.
At 1:00 p.m. law enforcement was following leads on possible locations for Horrighs. They stated that they didn’t believe he was a threat to the general public but he is a threat to law enforcement.
The CCSO was coordinating their efforts with the Missouri Department of Corrections Division of Probation and Parole and other law enforcement agencies.
At 3:26 p.m. the CCSO announced that the suspect was in custody.
“Thank you to all the law enforcement officers who helped in this manhunt and the citizens for giving us so many leads to follow up on during this investigation,” said a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
According to the Probable Cause Statement (PCS) filed by the officer with the court, this is what happened. (The XXX is something that was redacted in the PCS)
“On June 11, 2025 at approximately 08:18 hours, I conducted a traffic stop on North State Highway 5 north of U.S. Highway 54, Camdenton, Missouri. I spoke with the driver and passenger, later identified as William Horrghis.
“Prior to the stop I inquired on William’s information and learned he had an active Parole Absconding warrant. William’s parole is for the original charge of Assault 1st LEO and Burglary 2nd degree.
“While speaking with William, he told me he did not have an identification card. Additionally, he told me his name was XXX Horrighs, with a date of birth of XXX. William also provided me with a similar Social Security number as his, only switching the last four numbers.
“I instructed William to exit the vehicle, which he did. I told William I did not believe he was XXX, I believed he was William. I instructed William to place his hands behind his back. William immediately began pulling away from me and was able to turn around facing me. He grabbed a hold of my vest as I grabbed his shirt. I threw William into the front of my vehicle to separate us.
“William, at this point, began fleeing on foot. I chased William down and tackled him. We rolled into a ditch at which point William landed on top of me. William struck me in my left eye with what I believe to be his knee. William proceeded to grab a hold of my holstered firearm. I felt William pulling on it as though he was attempting to disarm me. I got William on his back while he was placing me into a headlock. I pushed my thumb into his throat to get William to release his grip around my head as he continued to pull at my gun with his free hand. I was able to get back on my feet at which point I punched William in the face one time as William was attempting to place me in an arm bar.
“I observed this had no effect on William, so I backed away and deployed my Taser. I Tased William twice, both times was ineffective. William yelled obscenities at me, ripped the Taser probes out of his body, screamed and ran away.
“I decided to not give chase with my K9 partner at the time due to the volume of traffic. I spoke with XXX who confirmed to me the male was in fact William ‘Bill’ Horrighs. After William had fled, I conducted a search of his wallet. In his wallet were 19 fake $100 dollar bills ‘funny money’. These bills discreetly state they are motion picture purposes only and copy on the face of the bill.
“Since this incident, I have been able to confirm the subject was in fact William Horrighs, comparing my body camera footage to his photograph on the Missouri DOC offender search site. Later in the day, multiple assisting law enforcement officers assisted in taking William into custody behind the address of 1165 North Business Route 5, Camdenton, Missouri. During a search incident arrest by a Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper and assisting Camden County Deputy, a smoking pipe commonly used in the consumption of Methamphetamine was located in his pants pocket. Additionally, a plastic bag containing two smaller bags with a white powder like substance was located in his left pant pocket. This substance later tested positive for the presence of Methamphetamine utilizing a Nartec field tester.
“During the processing of this evidence, it appears as though William submerged the smoking pipe and bags of powder in water and mud in an attempt to ruin any evidentiary value.
A review of William's criminal history shows he has an extremely long history of law violations. Furthermore, William is currently on parole for Assault 1st degree on a Law Enforcement Officer and Burglary 2nd degree.”
The reporting officer said he believes Horrighs will not appear in court if released since he is currently absconding from parole and has a warrant for such. William also has a warrant for Trespassing in Dent County, Missouri.
The officer also believes he is a danger to the community, according to the PCS.
“William, who is on parole from a 2006 incident where he disarmed a Camdenton Police Officer then shot him, attempted to disarm me, resisted arrest, struck me leaving bruising on my eye, and fled the area. William was willing to do this to an armed, sworn, law enforcement officer. I spoke with William’s parole officer who advised me she believes William is in an altered state of mind. At the time of William’s arrest, William was in possession of a dangerous, mind altering controlled substance.”
Horrighs has been charged with the following:
He is currently being held in the Camden County jail.
These charges are merely allegations and Horrighs is innocent of these until proven guilty in a court of law.
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