National fugitive roundup nets 316 fugitives

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 8:47 pm

National fugitive roundup nets 316 fugitives, 66 sex offenders in South Florida

By Brian Haas
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted November 3 2006

Deputy U.S. Marshal Scott Palumbo hoisted his M4 machine gun to his shoulder as his team prepared to enter the Pembroke Pines apartment of a sexual battery suspect.

A woman at the home let them in, and Palumbo found their suspect, naked and trying to hide between two mattresses. "Walk towards me! Walk towards me!" Palumbo yelled at the man. "Get down!"

Scenes like that played out throughout Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties and across the eastern half of the U.S. over the past two weeks as part of Operation Falcon III, where federal, state and local law enforcement teamed up to arrest wanted fugitives, absconded sex offenders and gang members. In all, law enforcement picked up 10,773 suspects nationwide who were wanted on 13,333 warrants.

In South Florida, law enforcement officers arrested 316 fugitives and 66 sex offenders, said Barry Golden, spokesman for the U.S. Marshal's Service. That's double the number of fugitives arrested in last year's Operation Falcon.

Highlights of the warrant sweep included the Oct. 22 raid of the Pembroke Pines apartment. There Palumbo and his team hauled off Richard Fernandez, 26, who was wanted in Miami-Dade County on sexual battery, kidnapping and criminal mischief charges.

Another big hit came last Friday in Miramar with the arrest of one of Operation Falcon's 15 "Most Wanted" suspects. Golden said Philip James, 31, is a two-time sex offender out of North Carolina who absconded from authorities there and failed to register with the state. They found him working at a carnival at a Catholic elementary school.

"Our whole mission was to get him before the carnival started and you had a lot of children running around," Golden said. "How'd you like to be a parent and find out a sexual offender was working there?"

Golden said Operation Falcon members spotted James last Friday before the carnival set up at St. Stephen School. He was arrested without incident and he awaits extradition to North Carolina in the Broward County jail.

In Riviera Beach, teams arrested Elmer Hearns, 56, on charges out of Alabama. Authorities said Hearns assaulted two young girls and was wanted on charges of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse. Agents tracked him down Oct. 25 and arrested him. He's now on his way to Alabama.

"Those are the kind of people we're going after to make the community safer," Golden said. "This was a huge success and I can only imagine that the numbers will increase next year."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cfalcon03nov03,0,7616334.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla