www.roanoke.com

Authorities from at least 10 agencies have been searching for Douglas Albert Jaccard since after 7 a.m. today. Authorites say they believe Jaccard is carrying a high-powered rifle.

Wythe County Chief Deputy Keith Dunagan said tracking teams have found several items believed to belong to Jaccard. Dunagan would not say what the items are, although he did confirm they are not articles of clothing. The discovery, he said, suggests that tracking teams are looking in the right area for Jaccard.

Jaccard was last seen running into the woods toward the New River Bridge on Virginia 100. That is where tracking teams have been working. Authorities believed earlier this afternoon that he was heading north toward Pulaski.

In addition to Joseph Bane and Jerry Covey, Jaccard is suspected of shooting Pulaski County sheriff's Deputy J.A. Ratcliffe in the lower back. His bulletproof vest protected him from the bullet, Pulaski County Sheriff Jim Davis said.

Ratcliffe is being held at Pulaski Community Hospital for observation this afternoon. "He's in great shape," the sheriff says.

The suspect also fired shots at two Wythe County deputies; they were not injured, Dunagan said.

Authorities have evacuated the houses on Dyer Road and have notified residents on Route 100 and advised them to keep their doors locked and make sure there are no keys in their vehicles.

Jaccard is 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighs about 170 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about his whereabouts should call 911.

Jaccard had recently been released on bond from the New River Valley Regional Jail.

He was scheduled to be in Wythe County Circuit Court on Wednesday to begin pre-trial motions on four separate charges, indecent liberties with a minor, indecent liberties with a child, abduction and possession of explosive materials, according to court documents.

The charges stem from allegations that on March 18, Jaccard propositioned a 14-year-old boy with whom he was "debarking" wood in the Dyer Road neighborhood, according to the case file in Wythe County Circuit Court.

According to a criminal complaint, Jaccard, 58, asked the boy if he liked oral sex and also asked if the boy would be interested in sex if Jaccard "dressed up like a woman."

The boy, a neighbor of Jaccard's, told police that he was not directly threatened but that he was scared because Jaccard was using a draw knife to cut the wood.

Members of the Bane and Covey families are listed as witnesses in the case.

Gerald Mabe, Wythe County commonwealth's attorney, said Jaccard had rejected any plea agreements, but that his defense attorney hoped to separate the indecency and abduction charges from the explosives charges.

When police searched Jaccard's house after the allegations, they found three canisters of gun powder, according to the complaint. Jaccard also told police that he liked to dress as a woman and that he was attracted to children and child porn, according to court documents.

Jaccard had previously been convicted of malicious wounding, assault and three counts of brandishing a firearm. He began serving a prison sentence for the malicious wounding charge on Aug. 27, 2002, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections.

A Wythe County jury recommended Jaccard serve a 10-year sentence for the malicious wounding charge, and a judge upheld that conviction. But Jaccard and his attorney appealed the case. In June 2004, the Virginia Supreme Court found that the trial court had erred in telling jurors about a probation revocation as part of his criminal history during the sentencing phase of the trial. The high court ordered the case back to Wythe County Circuit Court for a new sentencing hearing, where he got a three-year sentence.
Jaccard was was released from prison on Aug. 18, 2005, according to the DOC.