News Release

For further information please contact: Sergeant Dan Crain
573-368-2345
I12E08
December 22, 2008

EMPHASIS: Kentucky Residents Arrested Following Traffic Crash and Search in Pulaski County


On December 20, 2008, at approximately 5:10 p.m., a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper responded to a traffic crash on Interstate 44, near the 159-mile marker, in Pulaski County. When the trooper arrived, the occupants of the wrecked vehicle, a 1994 Nissan Quest minivan, were not present. A computer inquiry revealed that the vehicle was stolen from the state of Kentucky, and that the occupants may be suspects in a homicide, which had occurred in that state.
An intensive search to locate the occupants was conducted by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, the Waynesville and St. Robert police departments, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. At approximately 9 p.m., information from a citizen led to the suspects being located and apprehended, without incident, at the St. Robert bus depot.
Thomas Mercurio, 25, of Louisville, Kentucky, was arrested for possession of a stolen motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, careless and imprudent driving, and driving without a valid driver’s license.
Amy E. Arden, 21, also of Louisville, was arrested for tampering with a motor vehicle. Both were incarcerated in the Pulaski County Jail.
On December 22, 2008, a grand jury, located in Jefferson County of the Common Wealth of Kentucky, indicted Mercurio and Arden for several felony offenses, including murder. Media inquiries related to these indictments should be directed to the Louisville Metro Police Department.
The charges for which Mercurio and Arden have been arrested are mere accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.


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