Latest news with #fugitive
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Wanted in Berks: June 1, 2025
The Berks County sheriff's office is seeking the following fugitives: Janioshka Perez Janioshka Perez, 24, whose last known address was in the 600 block of Pine Street, Reading, is wanted on charges of theft by unlawful taking and retail theft. Spring Township police said Perez took five iPhones with a total value of more than $3,000 while she was employed at the AT&T Store on March 12. Police said Perez also took merchandise valued at about $153 from Target on March 28. She is described as 4 feet 11 inches and 175 pounds. William Schaeffer William Schaeffer, 66, whose last known address was in the 2100 block of Galen Hall Road, South Heidelberg Township, is wanted on charges he violated a protection-from-abuse order. South Heidelberg Township police said Schaeffer was at the victim's residence on March 12 and was sitting on a chair outside drinking a bottle of liquor with a loaded firearm within an arms reach on the bed of his truck. Schaeffer had been evicted from the residence under a protection-from-abuse order. The victim notified police, who responded and filed charges that day. He is described as 5 feet 10 inches and 195 pounds. Anyone with information about these fugitives is urged to contact the warrants division of the sheriff's department at 610-478-6390. Find the complete list of Berks County's most wanted at
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Wanted in Berks: June 1, 2025
The Berks County sheriff's office is seeking the following fugitives: Janioshka Perez Janioshka Perez, 24, whose last known address was in the 600 block of Pine Street, Reading, is wanted on charges of theft by unlawful taking and retail theft. Spring Township police said Perez took five iPhones with a total value of more than $3,000 while she was employed at the AT&T Store on March 12. Police said Perez also took merchandise valued at about $153 from Target on March 28. She is described as 4 feet 11 inches and 175 pounds. William Schaeffer William Schaeffer, 66, whose last known address was in the 2100 block of Galen Hall Road, South Heidelberg Township, is wanted on charges he violated a protection-from-abuse order. South Heidelberg Township police said Schaeffer was at the victim's residence on March 12 and was sitting on a chair outside drinking a bottle of liquor with a loaded firearm within an arms reach on the bed of his truck. Schaeffer had been evicted from the residence under a protection-from-abuse order. The victim notified police, who responded and filed charges that day. He is described as 5 feet 10 inches and 195 pounds. Anyone with information about these fugitives is urged to contact the warrants division of the sheriff's department at 610-478-6390. Find the complete list of Berks County's most wanted at
Fox News
2 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Former Arkansas police chief Grant Hardin's prison escape offers unique challenges to searchers: experts
The former Arkansas police chief who escaped prison on Sunday may have an "edge" compared to other escapees due to his past in law enforcement, experts say. Former Gateway Police Department Chief Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit, a medium-security prison, Sunday afternoon in Calico Rock, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC). Nicknamed the "Devil in the Ozarks," Hardin was serving decades in prison for murder and rape. Eric Brown, a 24-year U.S. Army Special Forces veteran and CEO of Imperio Consulting, told Fox News Digital that a former police chief like Hardin "has a working knowledge of law enforcement procedures, patrol routines and how search operations are typically structured." "That gives him an initial edge. He knows how law enforcement thinks," Brown told Fox News Digital. Law enforcement officials "will likely lean on geo-fencing, license plate readers, and known associate surveillance," Brown added. "But every fugitive makes mistakes." "If he's on foot, dogs, drones and thermal imaging tighten the noose," Brown said. "Establishing a perimeter means thinking like the fugitive, assessing terrain, choke points and logical escape routes. Officials are watching for movement: stolen vehicles, property break-ins, supply thefts, even unusual local chatter. The key is pattern disruption." It took less than 30 minutes for prison officials to notice that Hardin had disappeared from prison. Photos that the Stone County Sheriff's Office posted to social media show Hardin wearing an ADC-style uniform during his escape through a sally port, though ADC communications director Rand Champion said the uniform he was wearing was not official. Angelo Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor of criminology at Arkansas State University, similarly told Fox News Digital that law enforcement officials will likely be using drones and infrared camera technology to search heavily wooded areas in Stone County, where Hardin escaped, which is located just east of the Ozark Mountains. Hardin has ties to Garfield, Eureka Springs, Holiday Island and Huntsville, according to the FBI. Angelo Brown said Hardin's police chief experience means he likely has ties to law enforcement officials who may help him, and he will avoid making "simple mistakes that a lot of people on the run make, like going to relatives' homes, using… cellphones, credit cards, things like that." "Getting away, that's still very unlikely. Especially now, even if it is state-level corruption… the federal government's involved in this search and investigation, the state police, various agencies are working on this. So, I think law enforcement is doing everything they can to keep people safe," he said, noting, however, that it is impossible to "mitigate the risk completely" with a fugitive on the run. Champion said during a Wednesday news conference that authorities are fairly confident in the route they believe Hardin took when he escaped and his current location. "Based on the information that we have and the experience of our teams, they feel fairly confident that he is still fairly close to this region," Champion said, noting that "all it takes is one vehicle" for Hardin to use to travel elsewhere, though officials have established a perimeter around Stone County. "As of this time, they are still very confident that he is in the area," Champion said. Champion said the public should assume Hardin is "a very dangerous individual," and there is a risk he may commit more crimes while he is on the run. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years for murder plus additional time for rape. He pleaded guilty to the 2017 murder of James Appleton, 59, a city water employee who was found shot in the face inside his work truck, KNWA reported. While Hardin was being booked into the state prison around that time, officials submitted his DNA sample into a database. His DNA linked him to the rape cold case of a teacher in 1997, the outlet reported. Hardin ended up pleading guilty in that case in 2019, according to KNWA. The former police chief's escape came two days after 10 prisoners escaped a correctional facility in New Orleans, eight of whom have since been recaptured while two remain at large. Hardin is described as a 6-foot White male, weighing approximately 259 pounds. The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to his recapture and is asking tipsters to call 1-800-CALL-FBI with any information concerning the escapee.
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
U.S. fugitive psychic says it was 'a mistake' to flee to Toronto for 21 years
A longtime fugitive wanted for manslaughter in Florida admits it was "a mistake" to flee to Toronto, where he was recently arrested after spending more than 21 years on the run. In a sworn affidavit obtained by CBC News, Patrick Lutts Jr. publicly outlines for the first time how he hid from U.S. authorities after his involvement in a drunk-driving crash in Orlando, Fla., that killed two teens. Lutts has no passport, he said, no Canadian bank account and had stayed in the same apartment in Toronto's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood since 2004. A CBC investigation revealed earlier this month that Lutts, 51, lived openly in Toronto after skipping a plea hearing in a Florida court in 2003. With a warrant out for his arrest, Lutts hosted monthly trivia nights at a local bar and — under the alias Pat Lighthelp — provided relationship advice to clients as an online psychic. "I thought that authorities would be able to find me as I stayed in the same place in Toronto for over 20 years," Lutts wrote. "That day just never came until now, but I am tired of running." The affidavit, dated March 25, was filed in Ontario Superior Court as Lutts asked to be released on bail, pending extradition to Florida. A judge later denied his request, and Lutts remains in custody in a Toronto jail. His arrest in February by the Toronto Police Service fugitive squad came after a Crime Stoppers-type service in Florida received an anonymous tip about his whereabouts in November 2023. The tip appears to have come from a U.S.-based internet sleuth who claims to have used facial recognition technology and social media clues to track Lutts to Toronto. According to court records, Lutts faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the two counts of DUI manslaughter. The charges stem from an early morning crash on Christmas Day 1998 that killed 19-year-old Nancy Lopez and her boyfriend, Darvin Javier DeJesus-Taboada, 18. Investigators said Lutts, whose truck smashed into the vehicle carrying the two teens, had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit and a "strong odour of alcohol coming from his breath." "I know the allegations against me are extremely serious," Lutts said in the affidavit, describing the crash as "the vehicular accident I was involved in." Lutts said he "was never personally contacted or approached by authorities" about the Florida charges laid in March 1999 until his arrest for another impaired-driving incident in Connecticut in 2002. The following year, Lutts, a U.S. citizen, admits he fled to Canada instead of attending his plea hearing set for Oct. 1, 2003. "At the time, a passport was not required" to cross the border, Lutts wrote. It's unclear how exactly Lutts entered the country. According to Ontario court files, he has no legal immigration status and Canada Border Services Agency has no record of his entry. Lutts tried to cross at a Niagara Falls, Ont., port of entry on Sept. 29, 2003 — two days before that key court hearing — but was turned away due to the criminal charges in Florida, according to a police affidavit. Still, Lutts recounts settling in Toronto that year and meeting his longtime partner in 2004. Within months, Lutts says he moved into his partner's apartment, where Toronto police placed him under surveillance in December 2023. Lutts says he used his real name to open a Fido cell phone account and a post office box. Still, he said, "leaving for Canada and not facing the Florida charge was a mistake." Lutts remains a flight risk: prosecutor In a letter included in Lutts's Ontario court file, a senior Florida prosecutor asked in March that Canadian authorities deny bail to the longstanding fugitive. "Mr. Lutts has already demonstrated that he is a flight risk and will flee if granted release," Assistant State Attorney Brian C. Hagner wrote. "By fleeing to Canada, Mr. Lutts has demonstrated the lengths to which he will go to avoid answering for the crimes with which he has been charged." Lutts's affidavit said the opposite: he insisted he can't flee stateside — where his family lives — because "I know I would immediately be arrested." Plus, "I cannot flee anywhere because I have no passport." Public social media posts in recent years, however, suggest Lutts moved freely within Canada, including multiple ski trips to Whistler, B.C. Lutts pledged to remain on house arrest at his home in Toronto and wear an ankle monitor that could track him via a global positioning system if released on bail. The judge's reasons for denying him bail are not listed in the court file. Canadian courts weigh a series of factors when considering whether to release an accused, including whether they will show up for scheduled hearings and whether their release would undermine confidence in the justice system. 'He's no longer running free:' victim's family Lutts appeared twice this week in a downtown Toronto court by videolink from jail. His case is scheduled to return in June. No date has been set for a formal extradition hearing. Ralph Anthony Cordero, whose stepsister died in the 1998 crash, watched a live video feed Wednesday morning from his home in Washington state. "It was very pleasing to see that he's no longer running free," Cordero told CBC after Lutts appeared on screen, wearing orange jail garb. Cordero said his family never lost hope that Lutts would be found, even after more than two decades on the lam. "The motivator" for Lopez's loved ones, Cordero said, "was to ensure that this guy does not die before we get our hands on him."
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Murder accused ‘dumped victim's phone to put police off trail', court told
A fugitive who is accused of murdering a grandmother while she was out walking her dog took her phone to a town centre three days later and dumped it there to 'put the police off the trail', a court heard. Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC told jurors at Ipswich Crown Court that Roy Barclay, 56, had been 'unlawfully at large' for two years at the time he was said to have killed Anita Rose. The mother-of-six, aged 57, was found injured by a cyclist near a sewage works in Brantham, Suffolk on July 24 last year. She died four days later in hospital of traumatic head injuries. Barclay, of no fixed address, denies her murder. Mr Paxton, continuing to open the prosecution case on Friday, said Barclay had looked at news articles about the incident in the days after the attack. He said that in one article viewed by Barclay, senior police officer Mike Brown appealed for information about Ms Rose's iPhone which Mr Brown said could hold 'key information'. The prosecutor said that 'was a signal to cunning Roy Barclay that he needed to get rid of that phone'. 'Mike Brown was right and that explains what was to follow the very next day in Ipswich town centre on July 27,' Mr Paxton said. 'Roy Barclay dumps Anita's iPhone after Mr Brown has told the public in an article Mr Barclay has viewed about the significance of that phone.' He said that the 'dropping of Anita's phone in Ipswich' was 'to put the police off the trail'. The barrister said that Barclay was captured on CCTV footage in Upper Orwell Street in Ipswich on July 27 with a 'carrier bag in his left hand' which prosecutors say contained Ms Rose's phone. He said that Barclay entered a seating area with the bag and is later seen to emerge from the seating area without the bag. He said a couple – Mr Ichim and Ms Baiculescu – were captured on CCTV minutes later entering then emerging from the seating area and 'there's an exchange of an item' between them, which Mr Paxton said was Ms Rose's phone. 'Within a minute or so when that phone is switched on, that's Anita's phone, it alerts the police,' Mr Paxton said. He said that 'numerous police officers flooded the area and found the unsuspecting Mr Ichim and Ms Baiculescu' in a mobile phone and vape shop. The barrister said 'they had paid for a factory reset of the phone' but police arrived before this was done. He said Mr Ichim was arrested and later released, adding: 'Many people at times were treated as suspects but were later released without charge.' He said 'nobody other than Anita knew the password' to the phone, and police have not been able to get into it. The barrister said Barclay 'played at times a cat and mouse game with police, watching their moves'. He added that after he was arrested, Barclay denied any wrongdoing in a prepared statement and said: 'I would sometimes sit on the benches on Upper Orwell Street. There is often litter on the seats and in that area.' Mr Paxton said: 'He knew this was a popular area, that's why he chose it, a busy seating area where he would be able to drop something.' The prosecutor said Barclay showed an 'arrogance in keeping the items he did as trophies, believing perhaps that he could get away with murder'. He had earlier told the trial that Ms Rose's pink jacket, phone case and Samsung earbuds were found at camps Barclay had used. Mr Paxton said Barclay had also searched online for four prisons 'no doubt wondering if caught which prison he would end up in', and that this was done on July 25, the day after Ms Rose was attacked. He said it took a 'piece of luck for police to have contact with' Barclay, when Detective Constable Barry Simpson 'saw a male walking quickly along the road' on October 15. The officer, who was in an unmarked car and working on the murder investigation, 'thought the male looked similar to an image he had seen in the murder inquiry' and stopped to speak with him. Mr Paxton said the man was Barclay, but that he 'lied' to Det Con Simpson and gave his name as John Lesley, providing a false home address and saying he worked as a gardener. The prosecutor said the officer took photos of Barclay 'surreptitiously' and he was allowed on his way, but a 'manhunt' started the following day when officers determined that the man was not John Lesley. Barclay was tracked down by police and arrested at Ipswich Library on October 21, said Mr Paxton, adding that Barclay had 'changed his appearance' – with a shaved head and the 'beard's gone'. The barrister earlier told jurors that Barclay had 'lived off-grid' and slept in 'various makeshift camps'. 'He had been on the run trying to avoid the police and authorities to try and avoid being recalled back to prison,' Mr Paxton said. He said Ms Rose was subjected to 'numerous kicks, stamps and blows being delivered to her face, head and body' in a 'vicious and brutal attack'.
