Denton police arrested an Oklahoma man on drug charges Wednesday night, later learning he was wanted for murder in his home state.

Dale Lee Jones

Dale Lee Jones, 33, has been accused of slashing the throat of 26-year-old Jonathan Ball after a fight involving several men. Ball’s body was found in the road in front of his Duncan, Okla., home about 1 a.m. May 9.

Denton police Officers Cody Clark and Jeff Laughlin were watching for drug activity Wednesday night at Hickory and Crawford streets when they observed two men in an alley about 10:20 p.m., according to a police report.

Officers approached the men, whom they had previously seen cross in the middle of the street, but one took off his shirt and ran away.

According to the report, Clark chased the man to a house in the 1000 block of North Crawford, but he was able to get inside and lock the door before police could apprehend him.

Clark and another officer, April McDonough, knocked on the front door of the house and were eventually led to a bedroom closet, where the shirtless man stood, sweating and breathing heavily, the report said.

Police reported finding 11.9 grams of cocaine in Jones’ pants pocket when they arrested him.

He was booked into the Denton City Jail on charges of evading arrest and possession of a controlled substance. A computer check revealed that an Oklahoma judge signed a warrant for Jones’ arrest on May 12, on alternating charges of first- and second-degree murder.

While bail was set for the Denton charges, he was being held without bail on the murder warrant.

He was expected to be transferred to the Denton County Jail soon, police spokesman Lt. Lenn Carter said.

Jones declined to comment.

In Oklahoma, Stephens County Assistant District Attorney Dennis Gay told The Associated Press in a May 13 story that the alternate counts of first- and second-degree murder would allow a jury to decide which charge better fits the case.

Stephens County District Attorney Bret Burns filed Jones’ previous felony conviction information, which states Jones has nine previous felony convictions, three of which were distribution of a controlled substance, according to reports in the Duncan Banner.

Carter said the victim’s family had been working with the television show America’s Most Want­ed to apprehend Jones before the arrest.

According to the Denton police report, Jones said he hitchhiked from Oklahoma several days ago and his ride stopped in Denton. 

Jones will remain in Denton for disposition of the possession of a controlled substance and evading arrest charges, before police begin extraditing him to Duncan, Carter said.

“It’ll be weeks,” Carter said.

Staff writer Dan X. McGraw contributed to this report.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .