Ballard County Man Charged with Stalking

A man has been charged with stalking and other offenses in Ballard County.

According to the Ballard County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to the 600 block of Curtis Road on Friday in reference to a suspicious person. Upon arrival, the caller told deputies John Wines had a physical altercation with her in Paducah recently, and was continuing to call and text her after she had told him to leave her alone.

The caller thought that Wines might be on the property, so deputies checked the area. A deputy found a pickup truck registered to Wines parked less than a mile from the woman's property, pulled off into a wooded area near Highway 286. A search was conducted in the area using tracking dogs and a drone with thermal imaging. Wines was not found at that time, and his vehicle was towed.

On Sunday, the caller reported seeing Wines in her back yard, hiding behind her woodpile. The caller had new text messages from him, and one she had sent the previous date telling him to leave her alone. Deputies tracked him through the woods to Highway 121, where his other vehicle, an SUV, was parked in the woods.

Police said the vehicle did not have its proper registration plate, and had an altered temp tag in the window. Deputies believe this was done to avoid anyone knowing Wines was in the area. After being ordered to come out of the wooded area, Wines was seen going toward the Ingevity carbon plant, where he continued to run from deputies until they caught him inside one of the buildings.

Wines was arrested and charged with stalking in the first degree, criminal trespassing in the third degree, improper use of dealer plates, forgery in the second degree, fleeing or evading police in the first degree, harassing communications and tampering with physical evidence.