The nearly two-week search for a Limestone County man wanted on drug charges came to an end Thursday night with a brief pursuit and crash in Lauderdale County.

Mickey Paulk, 35, was apprehended shortly after 9 p.m. by narcotics investigators who had been surveilling a Killen motel. Paulk garnered national attention recently as the man authorities say kept a meth-fueled “attack squirrel” named DeezNutz.

Limestone County Sheriff’s deputy and spokesman Stephen Young said investigators were acting on a tip that Paulk had been staying at the America’s Best Value Inn. The Sheriff’s Office had received numerous tips about Paulk’s whereabouts in recent days, including that he was in Pulaski and Arab.

The Sheriff’s Office had been searching for Paulk since June 17 when a search warrant was executed at a Piney Chapel Road apartment where he had been staying. It was during the search that narcotics investigators learned about the squirrel. They also found meth, drug paraphernalia, ammunition and body armor.

Investigators learned Paulk was in possession of a gun, and charged him with certain persons forbidden to possess a firearm. Paulk was on probation after serving time in prison for robbery, which would have prohibited him from possessing a gun.

Investigators watching the motel saw Paulk leave on a motorcycle, which had been reported stolen from Huntsville, Young said. Investigators, joined by Killen police, pursued Paulk for about a half-mile, he said.

The chase wound up on a road that dead-ended shortly before U.S. 72. Young said Paulk attempted to cut through a grassy area in an attempt to get on U.S. 72, but he would have been going the wrong direction.

Young said investigator Jamie King, in an unmarked vehicle, positioned his car so Paulk would have either collided with it or gone into a ditch. Paulk struck King’s vehicle and flipped off the bike.

Young said Paulk was laying on the ground when officers took him into custody. He added Paulk had a .45-caliber handgun in his waistband at the time of his arrest.

Prior to his arrest, Paulk already had charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia pending in Limestone County, in addition to the gun charge. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources had also charged Paulk with possessing prohibited wildlife for having the squirrel.

He also now faces new charges in Lauderdale County, including prohibited person in possession of a firearm. Young said Killen police have also charged Paulk with felony attempting to elude, receiving stolen property and criminal mischief for damages to the unmarked Limestone County Sheriff’s Office vehicle related to the collision. Paulk was booked into the Lauderdale County Jail on the new charges.

If Paulk is released on bond from Lauderdale, Young said, Paulk would be transferred to the Limestone County Jail. He would not be eligible for bond in Limestone because his probation has been revoked.

Young said he was happy the long search for the owner of DeezNutz was at an end.

“The best thing is the public won’t have to be concerned about Paulk being out for the next few years,” he said. “His history shows he can be violent and a threat.”

Young said Paulk did not have a squirrel with him at the time of his arrest. A gofundme page started last week indicated DeezNutz is “being boarded until his owner’s legal issues can be settled.”

The page had raised $355 of its $25,000 goal as of Friday afternoon.