Alleged carjacking fugitive found in Iowa City

IOWA CITY - A multistate manhunt for an alleged carjacker ended outside the Iowa City Walmart on Wednesday.

According to the U.S. Marshals Office, Christolis Bankhead, 24, was arrested just before 4 p.m. after he was observed outside the Walmart store, 919 Highway 1 West. He was taken into custody without incident and is awaiting extradition back to Mississippi.

Authorities said Bankhead was wanted by the Clinton Police Department in Mississippi for an alleged carjacking on April 2. Bankhead is accused of holding a Mississippi college student at gunpoint in a campus parking garage. He was identified via security camera footage and the public's assistance, according to the marshals.

By the time a warrant for his arrest was obtained on April 4, police learned Bankhead had fled the state. Mississippi authorities contacted the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force to help track him down.

On April 6, officers with the Moline Police Department in Illinois reported finding a white 2015 Kia Optima, the vehicle Bankhead allegedly took in Mississippi. Bankhead was not found with the vehicle, authorities said.

On Wednesday, marshals with the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force learned Bankhead was staying near the University of Iowa campus. The Gulf Coast task force contacted their counterparts with both the southern and northern Iowa fugitive task forces. Those marshals, along with Iowa City police officers, searched the area and eventually located Bankhead.

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