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Steven Dale Branscome is accused of shooting a Virginia officer.

The Floyd County man who was on the run from police for nearly nine days is scheduled to be returned to West Virginia by tonight to be held on some of the many charges he faces.

Law enforcement officers from several agencies began searching for 32-year-old Steven Dale Branscome the afternoon of March 28, when police say he shot a Virginia State Police trooper. The trooper, Richard Hughes, has recovered from a wound to the neck and is back on the job.

Branscome was captured early the morning of April 6 at the Bostonian Inn in New Boston, Texas, close to the Arkansas border. Police have said they believe he was on his way to Mexico.

Branscome waived extradition, saving the Texas and West Virginia governments from having to enter into a paperwork exchange that could have taken months. Instead, two officers with the West Virginia State Police and one with the Virginia State Police boarded a flight to Texas on Monday to pick up Branscome at the Bowie County Jail, said 1st Sgt. Gary Tincher of the Princeton detachment of the West Virginia State Police.

They are expected to return today with Branscome, Tincher said.

If they arrive in West Virginia during the day, Branscome will immediately be taken before a Mercer County judge for a bond hearing, he said. If he is granted bond, it will likely be very high. It is more likely that Branscome will be held at the Southern Regional Jail in Beckley, W.Va., without bond until his first hearing "because he is an extreme flight risk," Tincher said.

Branscome is expected to eventually be charged in Virginia and North Carolina but will be tried first in West Virginia, where he is charged with the more serious crimes of malicious wounding and wanton endangerment in connection with Hughes' shooting.

Capt. George Austin of the Virginia State Police said police will consult with prosecutors in each of the localities where Branscome could face charges to determine exactly what charges to lodge against him.

In Virginia, he said, Branscome will likely face grand larceny and other charges. In North Carolina, he said, Branscome is likely to face charges related to two stolen vehicles.

Branscome is not charged with any crimes in Texas, the New Boston Police Department and the Bowie County Sheriff's Office said.

In addition to the shooting of Hughes, Branscome is accused of stealing several vehicles. Police have said they believe he stole one in Wythe County and drove it to Floyd County, where he stole another and spray-painted it black.

After ditching that one, he is accused of stealing a pickup truck from West Virginia, another vehicle from Floyd County and two vehicles in Ashe County, N.C. One of those, a church van, was found in the parking lot of the hotel where Branscome was captured just after 1 a.m. April 6.

Before Hughes' shooting, Branscome was already wanted on several outstanding warrants in Virginia. In Wythe County, he was wanted in connection with burglaries and thefts at a home and a business. He was wanted in Pulaski County on a charge of threatening to kill a woman he had been in a relationship with. And in Floyd County he was wanted on a probation violation.