Search, hospital lockdown in Aberdeen related to early morning events in Brookings, police say

The ongoing search for an Aberdeen man and the Friday lockdown of local facilities is tied to a series of events early Friday morning in Brookings.

Avera St. Luke’s Hospital and the Aberdeen Family YMCA were on complete lockdown for about an hour, according to news releases issued by the Aberdeen Police Department.

That’s because authorities were searching for Ronald Dale Elkins, 35, who has a Brown County warrant, according to police. It was initially believed that he was near the hospital and possibly armed.

A police investigation revealed that Elkins probably wasn’t in the area.

Police Sgt. Tanner Jondahl said Friday afternoon Aberdeen that the department had pursued multiple leads but had yet to find Elkins as of 3 p.m. Other law enforcement agencies are aware of the search, he said. Anybody with information about Elkins’ whereabouts should call 911.

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Jondahl said the search in Aberdeen was sparked by what happened in Brookings earlier in the day.

Authorities believe Elkins was driving a 1999 gold Ford F150 pickup with the South Dakota license plate 78511V that was stolen from Brookings.

Brookings Assistant Police Chief Derrick Powers said that pickup was one of two reported stolen early Friday morning in Aurora, a small town a few miles east of Brookings.

Powers said the gold pickup was reported stolen at 6:20 a.m., about two hours after a 1993 Chevy pickup was reported missing in Aurora.

“Shortly after receiving this report a deputy located the ’93 Chevy,” Powers said. “It was a short distance away abandoned in a ditch.”

Powers said officers believe the two stolen pickup reports are connected to an earlier incident in Brookings at the Cenex Convenience Store in the 3000 block of Lefevere Drive.

Officers were dispatched to the business about 2:20 a.m. after dispatch received a panic alarm, Powers said. When officers arrived, he said, the suspect vehicle was leaving, so officers attempted to stop it.

Powers said the driver didn’t stop and there was a short pursuit, which ended in the 700 block of 32ndAvenue in Brookings. That’s when the driver lost control, spun out and fled on foot, Powers said.

Officers searched the area, but didn’t find the driver, he said.

Powers said employees at the Cenex activated the panic alarm because of the way the suspect was behaving in the store. The suspect is also believed to have stolen items from the store.

"Because of the individual’s actions and the way he was behaving, they thought he was attempting to rob the store," Powers said.

Aberdeen schools were affected by Friday’s scenario.

The American News received reports that both Roncalli primary and Roncalli elementary school were briefly locked down Friday morning.

Becky Guffin, superintendent for Aberdeen public schools, said those campuses are always locked, but extra security measures were in place with mid-day recesses held inside.

Avera switched to a controlled lockdown by late morning. That means facilities were open but on heightened alert and with additional security at entrances. However, patients could get to appointments at the hospital and clinics after the full lockdown was lifted.