Fugitive Waives Extradition Hearings

ARAPAHO, Okla. (AP) A man wanted in the fondling of an 8-year-old boy at an Illinois Wal-Mart store agreed Monday to waive extradition hearings.<br/> <br/>Kenneth J. Vernon, 38, also pleaded guilty to

Monday, December 18th 2006, 4:14 pm

By: News On 6

ARAPAHO, Okla. (AP) A man wanted in the fondling of an 8-year-old boy at an Illinois Wal-Mart store agreed Monday to waive extradition hearings.

Kenneth J. Vernon, 38, also pleaded guilty to a charge of trying to elude a police officer and was sentenced to 20 days in jail.

He will be sent back to Illinois after he finishes his sentence here, the Custer County court clerk's office said.

Police in Mount Prospect, Ill., a northwestern Chicago suburb tracked Vernon's cell phone signals and then alerted the Oklahoma Highway Patrol of his whereabouts.

Vernon, who is a convicted sex offender, was arrested shortly before 9 p.m. Friday near Clinton after a police pursuit and was booked into jail in Arapaho.

A boy identified Vernon as his molester after viewing photographs of known sex offenders. Members of the public also called police to identify Vernon after videotape and a still photo of the fondling incident were released by Wal-Mart.