CLEVELAND — As part of a U.S. Marshals-led initiative designed to curb violent crime, 145 fugitives have been arrested in Northeast Ohio. For nearly a month, dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement officers have been rounding up the most violent felons.
Cleveland is one of ten cities selected to be part of the second phase of Operation Northstar. Albuquerque, Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit, Jackson Mississippi, Milwaukee, Oakland, and Puerto Rico round out the top ten.
The month-long operation was laser focused on fugitives with homicide, felonious assault, robbery and sex crimes warrants.
“It’s a small group that continues to commit crime over and over again, and crimes of violence, too — crimes that put lives in danger,” said Anne Murphy, Assistant Chief USMS.
For that reason, Pete Elliott, U.S. Marshal Northern Distrcit of Ohio, said a Cuyahoga County Prosecutor was involved in this operation.
“A prosecutor is embedded with us; they’re making sure the most violent are staying in jail and put in jail — that’s so important because sometimes we’ve arrested the same violent criminal three times,” Elliott said.
Operation Northstar started on Jan. 9 and wrapped up on Feb. 6 across the country.
“This is not a warrant sweep...not picking cases out of the hat. These are cases that we have focused on and the city of Cleveland has focused on — people who are driving the crime rate up in the city of Cleveland, people who are shooting at other people, people who are assaulting other people and people who are killing other people, and they need to go to jail,” Murphy said.
“I know when there is a focused effort — it makes a difference. Well, we have to find a way to sustain things,” Elliott said.
In Northern Ohio, 59 fugitives were arrested for assault, 20 for robbery, 17 for sex offenses, and 14 for homicide, US Marshals said in a news release.
There were 75 other warrants for weapons, drugs, and probation/parole violations, according to Murphy. Five handguns and a rifle were recovered during the operation.
A total of 188 warrants were closed due to those arrests.
The operation was led by the U.S. Marshals Service and assisted by members of the Cleveland Division of Police, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County, according to a news release from US Marshals.
“I am thankful for the leadership of Pete Elliott and his team at the United States Marshals Service along with all of our partner law enforcement agencies for participating in this successful multi-agency effort,” said Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond. “Members of law enforcement remain committed to working together to keep our neighborhoods safe, and a major part of that lies in removing violent offenders from our streets.”
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