The U.S. Marshals Service on Tuesday said a monthslong nationwide mission to capture violent fugitives has resulted in the arrests of more than 3,400 suspects wanted on murder, rape and robbery charges.
The U.S. Marshals Service’s Operation North Star saw 216 homicide suspects, as well 803 suspects wanted for assault and 482 people wanted on weapons offenses, taken into custody during the sprawling mission that covered 10 metropolitan areas in the Midwest, Southwest and Southeast.
Notable arrests include Michael Muldovan, who was nabbed in Sterling, Virginia in August after he fled North Carolina on statutory rape charges.
In May, the Marshals said, four men from Fort Worth, Texas — Hayden Bates-Vellmure, Jordan Elijah Jackson, Allan Gilbert, and Patrick Biscoe — were arrested after being linked to a drive-by shooting that injured multiple children.
Authorities said agents arrested Garron Stevenson that same month in connection with a shooting at a street-racing event that killed a 14-year-old and left seven others wounded.
“We first launched Operation North Star in 2022 to identify and apprehend the most dangerous fugitives and violent offenders,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful to every Deputy U.S. Marshal, Task Force Officer, investigator, and police officer who carried out these arrests, and who did so at great risk to themselves.”
The Marshals said the operation, which lasted from May 10 to Sept. 13, ended with 534 firearms seized, more than $508,000 in U.S. currency reclaimed and the confiscation of 456 kilograms in illegal narcotics, including 138 pounds and more than 550,000 pills of deadly fentanyl.
Metro areas targeted in the operation included Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio in Texas; Charleston and North Charleston, South Carolina; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; Phoenix, Arizona; St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois; Birmingham, Alabama; Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Dayton, Ohio.
Federal authorities said Operation North Star has resulted in the capture of more than 10,200 violent fugitives since it was launched in July 2022.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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