MOUNT VERNON — A 29-year-old Mt. Vernon man is in the Jefferson County Jail following his arrest Wednesday on meth and armed robbery charges.

According to Mt. Vernon Assistant Police Chief Robert Brands, Ashton Harper was arrested in connection with an incident reported last week.

Brands says MVPD received a report on February 7, of an alleged armed robbery at the Rose Lane Apartments earlier that morning.

But Harper had already left the scene and police weren’t able to locate him until Wednesday when he was reportedly found walking through the cemetery near the Rose Lane Apartments and was arrested on a charge of armed robbery.

A search of Harper as he was being taken into custody reportedly revealed a quantity of methamphetamine and resulted in a charge of Class X felony delivery of meth.

Harper is currently on parole from the Illinois Department of Corrections on convictions out of Wayne County on possessing a stolen vehicle, and Wabash County for aggravated fleeing police.