Latest Featured Updates:
- Task Force is Two for Two With Lorain County Dangerous Dozen Fugitives
- Marshals Task Force and Sheriff�s Deputies Sweep Pensacola Streets: 34 Arrested Guns and Drugs Seized
- Windsor Forest Murder Suspect Captured
ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center
SOURCE: US Marshals
16August2010 8:40pmPDT
GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:
Task Force is Two for Two With Lorain County Dangerous Dozen Fugitives
Elyria, Ohio � Wanted fugitives John Wilson, age 28, and Robert �Bobby� Cruz, age 43, were both added to the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force�s Most Wanted �Dangerous Dozen� list which was released on Wednesday to the public. Within 48 hours of the release, both are in custody due to tips received from the public. Wilson was arrested yesterday morning by the Task Force at approximately 11:00 a.m. in Elyria, Ohio. Wilson was wanted by the Elyria Police Department for two counts of felonious assault that occurred on July 8, 2010. Upon the release, the Task Force almost immediately received a call from a tipster which led to Wilson�s arrest at his girlfriend�s residence on W. River Road N in Elyria. Wilson was rumored to have a black handgun that he carried in a backpack. During the arrest investigators discovered a backpack with an airsoft handgun sticking out of the backpack.
Cruz, was also arrested yesterday evening after the Task Force received a tip that Cruz was staying with his uncle in Brookpark, Ohio. The Task Force requested assistance from the Brookpark Police Department, who immediately responded to the uncle�s residence on Hummel Road and arrested Cruz without incident. Cruz arrived to his uncle�s house earlier this week and asked if he could stay there for a little while because he didn�t have anywhere else to go.
Both fugitives were arrested on the same day that the media publicized the August edition of the Task Force�s Dangerous Dozen. The U.S. Marshals Service is grateful for the assistance from media and the public in apprehending these dangerous fugitives.
Acting Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Drew Deserto, stated, �It is great to see law enforcement work together with the media and the community to bring these wanted fugitives to justice. In Lorain County, the public response has been instrumental in the successful apprehension of seven Dangerous Dozen fugitives since May 2010, when the program was initiated.�
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of a known fugitive is encouraged to contact the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at: 1-866-4-WANTED. Callers may remain anonymous. The �Dangerous Dozen� fugitives can be viewed at http://ping.fm/7MVI5.
The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force � Lorain County Division is composed of the following federal, state and local agencies: Amherst Police Department, Avon Police Department, Avon Lake Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, Department of Housing and Urban Development � OIG, Elyria Police Department, Lorain County Adult Probation, Lorain Police Department, North Ridgeville Police Department, Oberlin Police Department, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Sheffield Village Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service and Vermilion Police Department.
Marshals Task Force and Sheriff�s Deputies Sweep Pensacola Streets: 34 Arrested Guns and Drugs Seized
Pensacola, FL � The U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Escambia County Sheriff�s Office hit the streets of Pensacola this week capturing elusive fugitives and thwarting some criminals. The Task Force worked together with the Sheriff�s Office targeting violent fugitives trying to help make the people in the community feel a little safer. Although the operation�s aim was to find fugitives, others were arrested on probable cause charges while the Task Force was attempting to find those with the warrants. In just four days 34 people were arrested and 47 warrants were served on charges including sexual battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, strangulation, possession of firearms, threatening witnesses, numerous narcotics violations and threatening to harm a law enforcement officer. Also, during the four day sweep two handguns, more than 60 grams crack cocaine, 5 grams of powder cocaine and over 270 grams of marijuana were confiscated.
The sweep was successful because of assistance of task force officers from Escambia County, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton County Sheriff�s Offices, Ft. Walton Beach, Niceville and Defuniak Police Departments, (Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and investigators from the State Attorney�s Office. Another reason that the sweep was so successful was because of the contribution of the Escambia County Mobile Booking Unit that was used to help speed up the arrest process and transport of offenders.
�I truly believe that the success of this operation was augmented by the use of the Sheriff�s Office vehicle which allowed officers to stay out on the street giving them more time to do what was intended � arrest people,� said Task Force spokesman Dominic Guadagnoli. �It�s like the old fashioned Paddy Wagon but modernized to meet law enforcement�s needs today.�
The Sheriff�s Office purchased two Mobile Booking Units about a year ago. They were bought to be used in special operations where large crowds gather and multiple arrests may be anticipated. They have been used at such events such as the Pensacola Interstate Fair and the Blue Angel�s air shows.
Windsor Forest Murder Suspect Captured
Savannah, GA � One of the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department Most Wanted was arrested by the United States Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department (SCMPD) K-9 Unit on August 16, 2010.
Ronnie Lee Wilson, 21, was wanted by the SCMPD for murder. Wilson is wanted in reference to a homicide that happened on July 26, 2010 in the 13000 Block of Stillwood Drive, in the Windsor Forest subdivision on the Southside of Savannah. The warrant was issued on July 29, 2010 in Savannah, Georgia.
The case was referred to the United States Marshals Service Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force to locate and arrest Wilson. Wilson has been on the run and hiding since the incident. An extensive investigation was conducted by the Marshals Task Force and numerous leads were worked to try and find Wilson. On August 16, 2010, the Marshals Fugitive Task Force received information that placed Wilson in a house at 2105 Rankin Street in Savannah, Georgia. With the assistance of the SCMPD K-9 Units, investigators converged on the Rankin Street address. There were several people at the residence and they were asked to come out of the home. Investigators were told that there was another male in the house. This subject failed to respond to the investigators when they entered the house. A search of the house was conducted and Wilson was found hiding in the shower. Wilson was arrested without incident. Wilson was then turned over to SCMPD Patrol units who in turn transported him to Police Headquarters to meet with homicide investigators.
Annually, investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the apprehension of over 36, 000 federal fugitives. More federal fugitives are arrested by the Marshals Service than all other federal agencies combined.
The Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force has three offices: Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah. The task force covers the whole state of Georgia. The Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force is a team comprised of investigators from the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Chatham County Sheriff�s Department, the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department and the United States Marshals Service. The task force objective is to seek out and arrest fugitives charged with violent crimes, drug crimes, sex offenders, and other felonies. In 2009, U.S. Marshals led task forces arrested more than 90,000 state and local fugitives on felony charges.
