The Brownwood Police Department issued the following press release Wednesday afternoon:

On Tuesday, February 14, 2023, at approximately 7 a.m. officers were dispatched to a home in the 1900 block of Avenue E regarding a request for a welfare check. It was believed that the female at that home had been assaulted by an adult male.

When officers arrived at the home, no one would answer the door. Officer Austin Carlisle stood to the left side of the home while other officers knocked on the front. While standing there, he observed a white male walk from the backside of the home and jump a fence into the neighbor’s yard.

Officer Carlisle contacted the male who explained that he was simply taking a short cut. Eventually, the male began running from Carlisle into adjacent yards and the alleyway. The male ran around in a circle and ended up running into the front yard of the home where he met with other officers at the scene and was arrested.

The male was identified as 31-year-old Stanton Leigh Fanning. Fanning was arrested for Evading Detention with Previous Conviction as well as Resisting Arrest.

The female who was the subject of the welfare check fled the scene at the onset of the pursuit.