Fugitive Finders: When does law enforcement cross state lines to capture wanted criminals?

YORK COUNTY, N.C. — A new task force, the first joint operation between U.S. Marshals and local agencies, is helping law enforcement officers catch wanted criminals in the Carolinas.

When a Hickory couple accused of killing Michelle Marlow at a local furniture plant went on the run, it was the new U.S. Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force that tracked them down.

Tangela and Eric Parker were found at an Airbnb in Arizona, more than 2,000 miles away from the plant. The team that captured them was led by U.S. Marshals Deputy Commander Brian Alfano.

“We will find them and it doesn’t matter if it takes an hour, a day, or month, or year, we’re not going to stop until we do,” he told Channel 9′s Genevieve Curtis in an exclusive interview.

Now, that team is helping law enforcement in York and Gaston counties to do the same – to find their own fugitives, no matter how far away they go.

Operation Washout was a seven-day roundup blitz – the first joint operation between the marshals and local agencies. Channel 9 got exclusive access as we followed the teams while they tracked high-priority targets.

“We are going after people who know they are wanted,” Alfano said.

Alfano said some suspects will move from one Carolina to the other thinking law enforcement can’t do the same.

“You know who is well aware of those jurisdictions? The fugitives,” he said. “They are crossing over state lines, they’re going into jurisdictions.”

But with the new task force, those boundaries don’t exist. That gives local officers equal footing.

“Not only are we able to work outside of those jurisdictional lines, they are able to go out of those lines – those investigators who work the case,” Alfano said.

Since March, Rock Hill police had been searching for Antwain Sutton, who is accused of choking someone and hitting her with his car. Investigators were able to track him to an apartment in Charlotte. Normally, they’d have to wait for local officers to pick him up, or for him to return to Rock Hill. But the task force was able to move in without restrictions.

U.S. Marshals banged on the apartment door but the people inside refused to answer. They were even speaking to team members through a window but not cooperating.

With shields up, the team then forced the door open.

“Hiding out so much that they refused to come to the door, we had to breach the door,” marshals said.

Eventually, they said they found Sutton hiding in the bathroom.

For Alfano, it highlights how the federal task force can help local agencies get some of their most wanted criminals in custody.

“We have an opportunity here to really make a difference,” Alfano said.

(WATCH BELOW: Federal fugitive task force tracks most dangerous criminals in Charlotte)

Federal fugitive task force tracks most dangerous criminals in Charlotte

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