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Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Warrant Watch: Inside how U.S. Marshals arrest violent fugitives
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Warrant Watch is a partnership with NBC4 and the U.S. Marshals Service, highlighting violent fugitives in the community. On Wednesday, our team was there to see the Task Force arrest a criminal wanted for illegal discharge of a weapon into a dwelling. The Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST) searches for violent offenders and assists partner agencies in tracking those wanted suspects. Chemical leak at explosives manufacturing plant prompts evacuations in Vinton County The SOFAST team always makes sure to have its bases covered when executing warrants. Officers make sure to cover the front and back of the house and keep an eye on the top of the house because they never know where their intended target will pop out. The team was looking for Robert Liston. He was charged with illegal discharge of a weapon into a dwelling, harassment and death threats. After several minutes of trying to get Liston to come outside, he did not come out the front door. 'He's coming out the top. Hey, go back inside! He's running, He's running,' Deputy U.S. Marshal Kevin Deppe yelled at Liston. Liston tried running, but didn't make it far. He laid on the awning of the home he was at and within minutes, the team was inside the home and dragged him back through the window and into a cruiser. Liston was safely taken into custody after that. More than 400,000 Ohioans see driver's license suspensions lifted under new law 'There are times when people know that the game is up, the jig is up, and they come to the door and they surrender,' Deppe said. 'However, unfortunately, there are plenty of times where people do try to hide, they try to run, and sometimes they try to fight.' Deppe said that there was a chance Liston was likely armed, so when the intended target doesn't immediately surrender, the team may have to enter the home and get a suspect themselves. 'The scary part of these situations is that we are going into an unknown and the targets are in their known space, so they know all the little hidey holes,' Deppe said. 'They know what they can get away with. For us, we're going into an unknown situation. Our awareness and our level of threat is at maximum.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Citizen
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Vorna Valley Residents Association committee member cries foul over ‘corrupted' city's e-Service portal
Vorna Valley Residents Association (VVRA) committee member Paul Veltman, on behalf of the association, lodged a formal complaint about alleged gross mismanagement and lack of transparency by the city's Land Use and Development Planning Department. The complaint was also addressed to Ward 132 councillor, Annette Deppe, on May 15. The grievances relate to the processing and public disclosure of development applications via the city's e-Services portal. Veltman claimed this was not merely a technical oversight but a representation of a fundamental breach of public trust, due process, and democratic accountability. He said documented failures included inaccessible, unlisted or missing applications and approvals without engagements. Also read: Johannesburg Water advances critical repairs to sewer pipelines affected by flood damage in Waterfall and Vorna Valley 'Multiple applications listed on the portal cannot be accessed [with broken links, error messages or incomplete uploads],' said Veltman. He alleged this meant that residents were deliberately sidelined, undermining mandatory public participation. VVRA demands: Veltman said the residents' association demanded the halting of all development approvals until the portal was fully audited and corrected to reflect all applications accurately. The demands also included: The Land Use Management and Geographic Information System map systems to be fully operational again; a public explanation for missing/incorrect records; and an independent review: A third-party audit of all recently approved applications to confirm compliance with public consultation laws. Also read: Minister welcomes digital transformation roadmap for SA government Veltman added that there should be a compensatory public engagement to reopen comment periods for all affected applications where participation was obstructed. 'This is not negotiable. As ratepayers, we demand a system that operates with integrity, transparency, and respect for due process. Silence or inaction will be interpreted as complicity in malpractice.' Councillor intervention: Ward 132 councillor Deppe committed to addressing this issue with the urgency and transparency it deserved. 'Firstly, I acknowledge the documented failures you have highlighted, including issues with inaccessible applications, unlisted or missing applications, and approvals without public engagement. These are indeed serious concerns that undermine public trust and the participatory process essential to our community's development,' said Deppe. She added that to address these concerns, she was going to ensure that the relevant departments within the Development and Land Use Management Planning Team probed the issues with the portal and ensured it reflected all applications accurately. Read more: Gauteng Department of Education confirms repairs at Eqinisweni Secondary School 'I will advocate for a complete audit and correction of the Land Use Management and GIS map systems to ensure their full functionality. This includes a public explanation for missing or incorrect records. I will push for the reopening of comment periods for all affected applications to ensure that public participation has not been unjustly obstructed.' City response City spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane claimed that the department had not at any point in time approved the applications without public participation. He said the department would never sideline or undermine the mandatory public participation processes, as stipulated in the Municipal Planning By-law. Modingoane said applicants were required to submit an affidavit showing that the advertisement requirements had been complied with. Read more: Pipeline project underway to address sewage spills in Waterfall Dam and Vorna Valley Vlei 'Land Use Management cannot proceed with the evaluation of an application until proof of advertisement is submitted, and where the processes are not complied with, they must be reported to the department for investigation. The department has not recently received any complaints of missing documents or incorrect records.' He concluded that the city's website had been assessed by Corporate Geo-Informatics for broken links and errors in the uploading of documents. Details: Advertised application documents can be requested through the Manager Land Use Management Registration: kerilengd@ or visit the Development Planning Help Desk. Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We'd love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts! At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Three fugitives arrested during U.S. Marshals operation in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Warrant Watch is a partnership with NBC4 and the U.S. Marshals Service, highlighting violent fugitives in the community. Often, the public's tips help get those violent criminals off the streets. The U.S. Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST) does a lot of work behind the scenes before actually going to make the arrest. Deputy U.S. Marshal Kevin Deppe supervises the Special Task Force assigned to serve high-risk warrants in Ohio. Man sentenced in Grandview Heights deadly assault after plea agreement 'We don't want to be going willy-nilly around neighborhoods and disrupting normal people's everyday lives,' Deppe said. 'And so, in order to do that, we try to shore up locations that these targets may be. That's what the investigative work is for, so that we're not going places we don't unnecessarily need to be.' NBC4 was there Tuesday to see members of the SOFAST task force put that work to action and arrest three known fugitives in the Columbus area. The first was Nicholas Knight, who was wanted for violating parole on an aggravated robbery and concealed weapons charge. Deppe said SOFAST always looks for signs of life inside the residence. As soon as enough boxes are checked, whether that be movement inside the home or lights flickering, they approach. The second suspect wasn't as cut and dry. Keith Mullins was wanted on an aggravated burglary and strangulation charge. SOFAST task force members surrounded the west side apartment complex he was believed to be. Neighbors confirmed they saw him recently, but officers received a tip from someone inside the apartment that Mullins was down the road at his sister's place. Sure enough, just as they got to her door, he was walking out. Ohio congressman introduces bill to study 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' 'When we did come in contact with them, he said he was just moving out to go to the grocery store to grab some things,' Deppe said. 'Luckily, we were there and saw him and took him into custody.' According to Deppe, this isn't uncommon — the suspect isn't always at the first place they look, but officers go where the information takes them. The final arrest was the quickest. Carl Epps was wanted for violating his parole. He is facing an armed robbery charge and a domestic violence charge in Franklin County. He came out of the home peacefully within a few minutes. 'We're able to find people at home a lot of times in those early morning hours,' Deppe said. 'Then as the day progresses and people go about their business, what we end up doing is more of the investigative work. So, it's looking into different places that people can be and interviewing different associates that they may have.' Deppe said law enforcement officers rely heavily on tips from the public. Ohio State to give LeBron James an honorary degree 'Sometimes the general population has information about where these targets might be that we couldn't otherwise find in a computer database,' Deppe said. 'And so, the tips become integral in really locating the targets that we're looking for. According to Deppe, the way Tuesday's arrests went is ideal for the task force, but that isn't always the case. 'Unfortunately, sometimes, you know, when you're going looking for these targets, they are also people to going about their everyday life,' Deppe said. 'And so sometimes the information that we receive is a little bit late or the places that we think that they're going to be don't necessarily work out.' Deppe said the SOFAST team is made up of task force members as well as members of local police and sheriffs' departments. Anyone with information about a wanted person can submit a tip to the U.S. Marshals by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Yahoo
Hunting fugitives dangerous for US Marshal agents, but it's ‘got to be done'
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — With every captured fugitive, the U.S. Marshal Service is making our communities safer. Going after the most violent criminals in the Miami Valley is dangerous work and the agents don't stop until the fugitives are in custody. 'This is one of those jobs that's got to be done,' said Kevin Deppe. 'Sun, snow, rain, sleet, whatever the situation is, we got to be out here. 'Crime doesn't rest. And so, neither do we.' 2 on 2 Most Wanted: 2 NEWS' monthly series on sought fugitives Deppe is a supervisor deputy with the U.S. Marshal Service here in the Southern District of Ohio. He leads a special task force of agents who hunt down the most violent offenders in our area. 'We are going after people who have committed violent felony offenses,' said Deppe. 'These are not your run-of-the-mill 'breaking and entering' — these are people with weapons charges, aggravated assault, homicides, things that raise to the level of the involvement of the federal government.' 'One of the ways that I commonly describe my job is just one big job of hide-and-seek. We get warrants, which are pieces of paper with somebody's name on it, and my entire job is to go find that person whose name is on the warrant,' said Deppe. The outcome of each encounter is never known in advance, so Deppe's task force prepares for the worst based on the history of the fugitive. 'Sometimes these situations escalate, pretty, pretty quickly,' he said. Other times, in a win for everyone, a suspect will willingly come out to the agents on the first request. 'My goal is to handle these situations, serve these warrants, get these targets into custody without ever having to use force,' he said. Deppe said the agents aim to move swiftly and efficiently, and that any information from the community helps them do just that. 'You know when these targets are actively avoiding law enforcement capture, a lot of times. they've been through the system before. They know some of the tips and they know some of the tricks that we use to track them down,' said Deppe. 'The public really becomes super important in finding the targets that we're going after. When they are on the run and legitimately trying to hide from us.' Deppe said it can't be understated how important of a role the public plays in helping to capture these fugitives. He cited the arrest two weeks ago of a wanted fugitive based on a tip from a 2 NEWS viewer as an example of the type of partnership they are striving for. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
