Murder suspect's arrest was 'good work'
7/19/2008 12:28 AM   1 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend



By KAREN DAILY

Staff writer

Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt credits a Michigan State trooper's "good old-fashioned police work" when she arrested accused murderer Koran Sapp after spotting a driver throw litter from a vehicle.

The 24-year-old passenger, it turned out, had been at-large for a year in the Palmetto State and is accused of gunning down 18-year-old Najee Preister at a mobile home park on Shenandoah Street in June of last year. Police say the shooting may have been in retaliation for an armed robbery involving Sapp's family.

Investigators say Preister was shot in the chest.

When deputies found the 18-year-old, he was bleeding heavily, but he refused to tell law enforcement who shot him. Priester was rushed to the Medical College of Georiga but died from blood loss while being prepared for surgery. The wound that killed him was a shot to the chest.

Following the murder, the Aiken County Sheriff's Office identified Sapp as the shooter and immediately went to the media, asking for the public's help.

Sapp was added to a national computer database, and the search continued.

On Thursday, his luck ran out.

Sapp was arrested during the traffic stop in Taylor, Mich.

"The trooper smelled the odor of marijuana in the automobile. When he began to investigate, Sapp, who was a passenger, jumped behind the wheel and sped away. Sapp collided with another car about a quarter-mile away and then jumped and ran from the car," Frank said in a release.

After being taken into custody, Michigan authorities fingerprinted the suspect and learned he was wanted for murder in South Carolina and a drug probation violation in Georgia.

Hunt explained that deputies can never take a traffic stop lightly.

"You never know what you are going to find, and they have to be very aware of their surroundings," he said.

Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.

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