A 31-year-old man wanted for car theft was arrested Thursday following a brief manhunt in Thorsby.

Clanton Police arrested Mario Alberto Avalos following a one-and-a-half hour search around 2 p.m. Thursday.

Avalos fled into a wooded area as Clanton detectives and Thorsby police drove up to a home in the 1100th block of Indiana Avenue, according to Clanton Police Chief Brian Stilwell.

Officers were going to the address to arrest Avalos on theft of property charges for allegedly stealing a car from Inverness Drive in Clanton.

“His home was at the end of the road, and he saw the police officers coming,” said Stilwell. “I am sure he knew why they were there.”

Chilton County sheriff’s deputies and police officers from Thorsby and Jemison responded to the area, while the sheriff office’s tracking dog began following the suspect.

While the dog was tracking the suspect, a Jemison city employee saw a Hispanic man run out of the woods off Ellison Road, Stilwell said.

The employee contacted Jemison police. Jemison officers, Clanton detectives and sheriff deputies responded to the area.

Avalos was arrested following a brief foot pursuit into the woods, Stilwell said. He is currently in the Chilton County Jail on $20,000 bond.

Avalos was traced back to the Thorsby address from information collected from a car junkyard in another county.

Stilwell thanked Thorsby PD, Jemison PD, and the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office for their help in catching Avalos.

“We are glad he is off the street and in jail, and no one got hurt, Stilwell said.