Henry’s next plan was to gather together some much-needed cash and make a run for it. Following this plan, he drove to Oklahoma where he broke into a store and stole several television sets. After selling them in Amarillo, Texas, he headed for California.

With his money running out and anxious for work, Lucas returned to Hemet, California, hoping to find work and lodgings with Jack Smart. Unfortunately for him, Kate Rich’s relatives had called Smart, prior to Henry’s arrival, and asked him to tell them if and when he saw Lucas. Jack Smart welcomed Lucas into his home without indicating that anything was amiss but later the same evening, telephoned his family in Oklahoma and informed them.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Conway had put a trace on the vehicle that Lucas had taken from Moore. The California Highway Patrol later found the car abandoned outside of Hemet and called Conway’s office. They also told him that the front seat was covered with dried blood. Conway had the vehicle impounded and asked the Californian police to arrest Lucas as a material witness in a murder. Later the same day, the police went to the Smart’s antique shop and took Henry Lee Lucas into custody.

When Henry was picked up, he told the police that the blood in the car was his own, the result of having cut himself. The police related details of the conversation to Conway who sent word to Rich’s relatives in the hope of obtaining a blood sample that would hopefully match the one in the car. No sample was available, but records indicated that Kate Rich’s blood was type "A." A sample was taken from Lucas, which proved to be type "O." The blood from the car was tested and found to be type "O" as well.

Conway was disappointed with the results, but knew from his experience that when blood samples dry out, they usually revert to type "O." Without the body, no further tests could be carried out so, in the absence of a Californian arrest warrant or an extradition order from Conway, the police were forced to release him. Lucas left the police lock-up and again hit the road, anxious to cover as much ground as he could so as to avoid any further police scrutiny.