Category: US Marshals Service

Source: US Marshals Service

Cleveland, OH– This morning, members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) arrested a 16-year-old who was wanted by the Cleveland Division of Police for aggravated vehicular homicide.

According to the Cleveland Division of Police, on July 10, 2023, officers responded to the area of E. 78th Street and Union Avenue for a vehicle crash. As officers arrived on scene a KIA vehicle was located that had crashed into a utility pole and nearly split in two. A firearm was also located on the ground, just outside the KIA. Another vehicle was also located on scene and was occupied by a 30-year-old male and a 31-year-old female during the time of the incident. During the accident investigation it was determined that the KIA had been stolen, and the 16 year-old driver had allegedly crashed into the other vehicle, causing the 30-year-old man to die and the 31-year-old female to suffer non-life-threatening injuries.  

Today, members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested the 16-year-old male wanted for the deadly crash at an address near the 2900 block of Minnie Ave., Cleveland, OH. U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated, “The juvenile involved in this incident was out at 3:00am, driving in a stolen vehicle at a high rate of speed, which lead to a senseless death. We are committed to working with our partners to pursue and arrest those violent offenders causing reckless crimes in our community.”

Anyone with information concerning any wanted fugitive can contact the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4WANTED (1-866-492-6833), or you can submit a USMS web tip. Reward money is available, and tipsters may remain anonymous. Follow the U.S. Marshals on Twitter @USMSCleveland.

The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force – Cleveland Division is composed of the following federal, state and local agencies: U.S. Marshals Service, Cleveland Police Department, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Police Department, Euclid Police Department, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Independence Police Department, Parma Police Department, Aurora Police Department, Solon Police Department, Cleveland RTA Police Department, Westlake Police Department, Bedford Police Department, Middleburg Heights Police Department, Newburgh Heights Police Department and the Metrohealth Police Department.

Source: US Marshals Service

Concord, NH – The Concord Police Department (CPD) and U.S. Marshals Service – NH Joint Fugitive Task Force (JFTF) are pleased to announce the results of an operation focused on locating and apprehending individuals wanted by CPD for sex offender registration violations and offenses against children. A task force was assembled and guided by Concord Police Department detectives, who received man-power and investigative resource assistance from partner agencies: Strafford County Sheriff’s Office, Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, Manchester Police Department, Nashua Police Department, Greenfield Police Department and the NH JFTF. As a result of this surge operation, seven individuals were located and arrested.

On Tuesday morning, members of the task force were briefed by Detectives at Concord PD. After breaking into teams, lists of wanted individuals with an array of crimes ranging from sex offender registration and parole violations to narcotic-related offenses and child endangerment charges were distributed.

By 11:30 PM, the following individuals were apprehended:

Rodney Moody (53 years of age) Concord, NH Duty to Report X 2 (Felony)	Brian Bilodeau (63 years of age) Concord, NH Possession of a Controlled Drug X 2 (Felony) Common Nuisance (Felony)
Jack Barton (53 years of age) Concord, NH Registration of Online Identifiers X 8 (Felony)	Tommi Allen (44 years of age) Incarcerated Duty to Report X 2 (Felony) Registration of Online Identifiers (Felony)
Barry White (52 years of age) Concord, NH  Duty to Report X 2 (Felony) Registration of Online Identifiers X 4 (Felony)	Brad Lizotte (58 years of age) Londonderry, NH Duty to Report X 3 (Felony) Parole Warrant – State of NH Parole Board
Pamela Sprizza (45 years of age) Salem, NH Possession of a Controlled Drug X 4 (Felony) Methamphetamine Related Crimes- Near Child (Felony) Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Felony) Default or Breach of Bail Conditions (Misdemeanor)

The U.S. Marshals Service is the lead federal agency for enforcing the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of July 2006. In that effort, the USMS assists state, local, tribal and territorial authorities in the location and apprehension of non-compliant and fugitive sex offenders. The New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force (NHJFTF) aids these jurisdictions by adopting the fugitive warrants for their most egregious offenders. “The Marshals Service takes pride in its authorities to collect the personnel and resources needed to help our local partners protect their communities where they need it the most,” stated William R. Hart, Jr., United States Marshal for the District of New Hampshire. “Ensuring children are protected and registered sex offenders are being appropriately tracked are among the most important and worthy missions deserving our time, attention and resources.”      

“The Concord Police Department would like to thank the US Marshal’s Service and other participating local, state, and county law enforcement agencies who took part in this joint operation,” remarked Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood. “This collaboration with our law enforcement partners is vital to keeping our communities safe in New Hampshire.”

Since the inception of the U.S. Marshals – New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force in 2002, it has been part of, and empowered by, the community we serve. Its commitment to enhance the protection of the public through partnerships with local and state jurisdictions has resulted in thousands of arrests. These arrests have ranged in seriousness from murder, assault, unregistered sex offenders, probation and parole violations and numerous other serious offenses. Nationally the United States Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, 8 regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.

Source: US Marshals Service

Source: US Marshals Service

Source: US Marshals Service

Source: US Marshals Service

Source: US Marshals Service

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Marshals, along with West Virginia State Police, Lewisburg Police Department and Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office, this afternoon arrested at the Quality Inn in Lewisburg, West Virginia, a man who escaped from an Arkansas prison facility in 2022. 

Samuel Paul Hartman, 39, an inmate at the East Arkansas Regional Unit, was sentenced to life in 2013 after being convicted of raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter, but he escaped on a work detail in a field near the detention facility.

Also taken into custody were Hartman’s wife Misty Hartman, 39, his mother Linda Annette White, 61, and White’s boyfriend Rodney Trent, 52, of Lester, West Virginia. Both women are alleged to have helped Hartman escape using a pickup truck and jet skis. Trent faces felony charges for allegedly harboring a sex offender and for assisting the trio while on the run.

While Hartman was on a work detail Aug. 12, 2022, a vehicle approached the work crew, and two women, later identified as Linda White and Misty Hartman, exited the vehicle and fired several shots toward the work crew as inmate Hartman ran to the awaiting vehicle.  The vehicle then fled as DOC officers pursued. DOC pursued the vehicle to the area just short of the Mississippi river where all three fled to two pre-staged jet skis. 

After a short time, law enforcement officers from Mississippi and Arkansas went to the Mississippi side of the river and located the abandoned jet skis on the riverbank. An eyewitness on the Mississippi side of the river reported seeing one man and two women riding jet skis across the river. 

In March, USMS investigators from the agency’s Cold and Complex Case Unit paired up with investigators from the Eastern District of Arkansas to find the three.  Investigators developed information that Linda White had ties to West Virginia and contacted the Southern District of West Virginia for assistance in the case.  

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of a year of outstanding, dedicated work by our heroic law enforcement officers. Now that they have brought this dangerous fugitive to justice, all Arkansans can sleep safer at night,” said Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

“Today’s capture was the result of deliberate and determined law enforcement work,” said Joe Profiri, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Corrections. “The United States Marshals Service, Arkansas State Police, and the Arkansas Department of Corrections have kept this case on the forefront and followed hundreds of leads over the course of the last year. We appreciate the support and assistance from all agencies involved, the Arkansas Governor’s office, and the State of West Virginia in bringing this case to a successful conclusion.”

“In my nearly 30 years of law enforcement, I cannot recall a task force that has the level of dedication to accomplishing the mission and making our communities safer than that of CUFFED (Cops United Felony Fugitive Enforcement Division Task Force),” said Michael Baylous, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia. “The apprehension of these dangerous fugitives demonstrates the close and outstanding relationship that CUFFED enjoys with our local and state partners, other USMS Districts, and the USMS Domestic Investigations Branch.”

“Attempts to evade justice for this dangerous criminal ended today thanks to the tireless efforts of the U.S. Marshals fugitive task force and our law enforcement partners,” said Cory Harris, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Source: US Marshals Service

Source: US Marshals Service

Source: US Marshals Service

Hudson, OH – Today, members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) arrested Ahmere Morriss, 20, and Samson Peterson, 31, in unrelated cases. Morriss was wanted by the Akron Police Department for aggravated murder, and Peterson was wanted by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority for a parole violation.

On August 16, officers with the Akron Police Department responded to the area of E. Glenwood Ave. and Dan Street for a reported shooting. According to Akron Police, the first responding officers found a 17-year-old male and a 23-year-old male in a vehicle, and both had suffered gunshot wounds. Investigators believe the victims were driving in the area when a suspect vehicle stopped in front of the victims’ car and opened fire. According to police, dozens of shell casings were recovered. The teen succumbed from the gunshot wounds and the 23-year-old suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Today, members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, Hudson Police Department and the Akron Police Department arrested Ahmere Morriss, who was wanted for his alleged involvement in the shooting. Officers arrested Morriss at a residence near the 1600 block of Goodland Drive in Hudson, Ohio.

This afternoon, members of the Akron Division of the NOVFTF arrested Samson Peterson at an address near the 1300 block of Water Street, Kent, OH. Peterson was wanted for violating his post prison release conditions from a past gross sexual imposition conviction. He was also wanted by the Summit County Sheriff’s Department for failure to register as a sex offender. Peterson was booked into the Portage County Jail as he awaits his parole violation hearing.

U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated, “The strong partnership we share with the Akron Police Department and the Ohio Adult Parole Authority resulted in two violent fugitives being taken off the streets of northeast Ohio today. We will continue to work with them to make the community a safer place.”

Anyone with information concerning any wanted fugitive can contact the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4WANTED (1-866-492-6833), or you can submit a web tip. Reward money is available and tipsters may remain anonymous.  Follow the U.S. Marshals on Twitter @USMSCleveland.

The NOVFTF Akron Division consists of the following federal, state and local agencies:  The United States Marshals Service, Akron Police Department, Barberton Police Department, Bath Township Police Department, Copley Township Police Department, Cuyahoga Falls Police Department, Fairlawn Police Department, Hudson Police Department, Kent Police Department, New Franklin Police Department, Norton Police Department, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Portage County Sheriff’s Office, Reminderville Police Department, Tallmadge Police Department, United States Secret Service, University of Akron Police Department, Wayne County Court of Common Pleas.