Marshals: More than 600 fugitives arrested in East St. Louis area

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — U.S. Marshals said Friday afternoon that they had arrested more than 3,400 fugitives nationwide, 602 of them reportedly in the East St. Louis area.

Investigators with the U.S. Marshals Service's “Operation North Star” have reportedly arrested 34 fugitives for murder, 34 fugitives for sexual assault, 29 fugitives for robbery, 119 fugitives for aggravated assault and 177 fugitives for firearms violations, the service said in an emailed statement. Press release sent via email. The service did not provide details about the other 209 arrests.

“Local investigators seized 172 firearms, more than $258,000 in U.S. dollars, 7 vehicles and 53 kilograms of illegal narcotics,” the service said in a statement. “A significant arrest from the East St. Louis area was Vito Crowder, who was arrested on August 29, 2024 in St. Louis, Missouri by USMS personnel from the Southern District of Illinois. He was wanted for aggravated assault with a firearm. He was also wanted on two counts of first-degree murder following a shooting in Alton, Illinois that left an innocent 13-year-old girl dead.

Operation North Star is the service's “high-impact” fugitive apprehension initiative, which has been carried out in 10 metropolitan areas, including:

• East St. Louis, Illinois
• St Louis, Missouri
• Dallas, Texas
• North Charleston, South Carolina
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Birmingham, Ala
• Winston Salem, North Carolina
• Dayton, Ohio
• San Antonio, Texas

“Last year, the Marshals Service conducted Operation North Star in ten cities across the country experiencing high levels of gun violence,” said Ronald L. Davis, Director of the United States Marshals Service. “Over 3,000 dangerous refugees, including over 200 murder suspects, were arrested and removed from the neighborhoods.”