U.S. Marshal Talks About Catching Bad Guys

Every criminal slips up somehow. When they do, U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott will be there to arrest them.

Elliott, U.S. marshal for the Northern District of Ohio, has worked with area local enforcement agencies in the apprehension of 26,000 fugitives since being appointed to the position in 2003.

"If there's a fugitive on the run, we're on them," he told the members of the Mayfield Area Chamber of Commerce at a lunch meeting.

The worst of the 26,000 fugitives was an Akron man convicted of raping a child and sharing photos with friends, Elliott said. The man was found hiding in Venice Beach, CA living under his actual name, only with the first and last names reversed.

"When people lie, they lie close to home," Elliott said. "I love catching the ones who think they're never going to get caught."

One such case involved an attorney who was a prosecutor for several communities before fleeing the country rather than face firearms charges. Elliott said the man bragged about not being able to be caught. However, criminals always leave some evidence to track them, Elliott said.

"No matter who you are, you always leave behind a clue," he said.

In this case, the clue came in the form of shredded documents which were pieced together to come up with an address in Mexico. "The moral of the story is not to buy a cross-shredder," Elliott joked.

Elliott also has managed to catch people the easy way – by getting them to turn themselves in. He created the Fugitive Safe Surrender Program in 2004 with the idea that people may be more willing to turn themselves in at a church rather than a police station or law enforcement office.

He was right, as 805 fugitives voluntarily surrendered in four days in August 2005. His program was picked up nationally and has led to the surrender of more than 25,000 fugitives.

Elliott said it's important to find ways to apprehend fugitives without confrontation  because nearly half of police officers killed on the job are killed by fugitives on the run.

"Desperate people take desperate acts with desperate consequences," he said.