Crime Stoppers tips, reward money leading to more arrests in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Lexington police say they’ve been able to make four arrests in the last 72 hours all thanks to Crime Stoppers tips, and they expect this momentum to only increase.

“I monitor the tips into the evenings, late at night. I monitor them on the weekends. That tip we had last night, we moved on it quickly,” Det. Anthony Delimpo with Lexington police said.

It was a tip that led police to a person they’d been looking for for more than a year, eventually arresting the suspect in a neighborhood near Liberty Elementary School Tuesday night.

“We aren’t getting one kind of tip. Our homicide tips have increased fivefold. But it’s tips across the board. From domestic violence, to narcotics, to homicides, to shootings. Everything has increased,” Delimpo said.

And as Delimpo says, so have the payments for tips made to Crime Stoppers that lead to arrests.

“We’ve announced $2,500 for any tip that leads to an arrest in an open homicide case for this year. We also increased our rewards scale. It used to be we paid up to $1,000 for any tip that led to an arrest. Now it’s up to $1,500,” Delimpo said.

Delimpo said it’s clear the phrase “money talks” is working here. LPD made another arrest thanks to tips Tuesday. DeMonte Cowan, 44, was charged with murder in connection to a June 19th shooting.

“I think people are tired of it. They’re tired of the violence, tired of the crime, tired of living in fear. They’re scared to go to a community event, or sit in their front yard. Or even go out downtown for Thursday Night Live,” Delimpo said.

Crime Stoppers is a non-profit and is solely donations based. Delimpo hopes with more fundraising efforts, they’ll be able to offer more money for tips, which will hopefully lead to more arrests.

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