Residents at Shelfield Apts. Respond to Fugitive's Arrest

Residents of a south Carmichael apartment complex said Tuesday they witnessed Monday's arrest of a Washington state man who was wanted in connection with a fatal shooting in Tacoma and some had seen him before in the area.

Olujimi Blakeney was arrested at about 4 p.m. at the Shelfield Apartments at 5800 Fair Oaks Blvd., by U.S. Marshals Service personnel from the Northern District of California.

Blakeney was wanted in connection with the shooting death of Lisa Melancon in Tacoma, about 35 miles south of Seattle, on July 22. Shelfield Apartments residents said he was visiting Adrian Blakeney, his ex-wife with whom he had an estranged relationship.

"Her head was unfocused," said resident Barbie Frisbie, adding that she had seen Blakeney at the complex before.  "I saw they had (Adrian) down on the ground but she was let go.

"I heard she was packing and going back to Washington and the feds were going to meet him at the airport there."

Earlier Thursday, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service office in Seattle said that Blakeney was traveling through the area with his girlfriend.

"I don't know why he was there," Supervisory Deputy Richard Ploof said in a phone interview with Carmichael Patch. "It's an area we weren't initially considering."

Sacramento County Sheriff's officers assisted on the call.

The scene of U.S. Marshals surrounding the apartment complex surprised residents including Brandi Santiago.

"This whole place was swarmed with marshals and there were snipers in the bushes," Santiago said. "Helicopters were above, the roads were blocked off, it was super crazy."

Santiago said she's lived in the complex for a year and had not seen anything like Monday's arrest before.

"It's generally a safe place for the kids to play," she said.

Following the murder of Melancon in Tacoma, an intense investigation led to the identification of three suspects, officials said. Blakeney was the last of three suspects arrested and charged with murder in the case.

Information was developed by the Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force that Blakeney was in the Carmichael area, officials said. Additional information was developed by task force personnel and provided to the U.S. Marshals Service in Northern California.

USMS workers, along with deputies from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, found Blakeney and placed him under arrest without incident.

"(The arrest) is huge," Ploof said. "It's a really big case for the department and helps put some closure on the case for (Melancon's) family."

Ploof said Blakeney may have been booked into the Sacramento County Jail where he can waive extradition to Washington or face a hearing on extradition.