Officers armed with rifles and aided by police dogs arrested 22-year-old Anthony Deshaune Edwards after an hourlong search Monday afternoon in the area of West 25th and Louisiana streets.

A Lawrence man accused of kidnapping and arrested Monday after an hourlong search involving dozens of heavily armed police officers has a criminal history and was most recently wanted on suspicion of skipping scheduled meetings with a parole officer and testing positive for drugs.

Anthony Deshaune Edwards, 22, was booked into the Douglas County Jail Monday evening on suspicion of two counts of violating his probation, one count of attempting to elude a law enforcement officer and one count of kidnapping.

Anthony Deshaune Edwards

Officers armed with rifles and aided by police dogs arrested 22-year-old Anthony Deshaune Edwards after an hourlong search Monday afternoon in the area of West 25th and Louisiana streets.

Edwards has a criminal history in Douglas County, though as of Tuesday morning no new charges have been filed against him.

Just before 3 p.m. Monday officers noticed Edwards driving a gold Toyota SUV “erratically” in a parking lot in the 3200 block of Iowa Street, Lawrence Police Sgt. Amy Rhoads said in a written statement. Edwards was known to have warrants out for his arrest.

The allegations of probation violations stem from two separate criminal convictions, according to Douglas County District Court records.

In December 2015, Edwards pleaded guilty to two felony counts of forgery and one misdemeanor count of theft, records say. In May 2015, Edwards pleaded guilty to one felony count of unlawful voluntary sexual relations with a child over the age of 14 but under the age of 16.

For his convictions Edwards was sentenced to serve time in prison, to be followed by probation, court documents say.

In September 2016, Edwards’ probation officer filed an affidavit accusing him of skipping scheduled appointments and testing positive for methamphetamine. A warrant was issued for his arrest in October.

On Monday, shortly after officers saw Edwards driving near Iowa Street, Rhoads said another officer saw the same SUV with a female in the passenger seat driving past the intersection of 31st Street and Haskell Avenue.

“The female looked directly at the officer, who was stationary, and with her hands up to the window it appeared the female was yelling for help,” Rhoads said.

The officer tried to pull Edwards over; however, he sped away, Rhoads said. He then entered the campus of Haskell Indian Nations University and ran west on foot. Police reached the female inside the car, who was not injured.

After the chase, dozens of officers from area law enforcement agencies blocked off an area around the intersection of West 25th and Louisiana streets, west to Belle Haven Drive and south past Utah Court.

Many of the officers were armed with rifles and at least one police dog was brought to the scene.

After 4 p.m. officers arrested Edwards in an apartment at 609 W. 25th St., Rhoads said. That address is also listed as Edwards’ home address in the Douglas County Jail booking logs.

Nobody was injured during Edwards’ arrest, Rhoads said.

Edwards is currently being held in the Douglas County Jail without bond.