“Operation 5 County Clean Up” Captures Close To 100 Fugitives In Western Washington

WESTERN WASHINGTON - Following a long tradition of success in its national efforts, the U.S. Marshals Service along with a number of other federal, state and local agencies conducted another successful fugitive apprehension initiative in Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston Counties from November 17 - 21.  Led by the U.S. Marshals sponsored Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force (PNWFAT), Operation 5 County Clean Up resulted in the arrest of 94 individuals wanted on outstanding felony warrants.  

This operation, 10 weeks in the planning, focused its effort on capturing individuals wanted on felony charges including crimes against women and children, crimes of violence, gun and drug offenses, sexually motivated offenses and unregistered sex offenders.  Over the course of the five-day operation, deputy U.S. marshals, teamed with federal, state and local law enforcement partners, arrested 94 individuals wanted from all five of the participating counties including 26 individuals wanted on outstanding Washington State Department of Corrections felony warrants.

“Operation 5 County Clean Up has proved how much can be accomplished when we use the force multiplying effect by combining the resources at the federal, state and local levels,” said U.S. Marshal Joe Hawe of the U.S. Marshals Service.  “This operation is not possible without the unique talents and dedication of the individuals that each of the participating agencies brings to the table."

The 13 agencies participating in Operation 5 County Clean Up are as follows:

• U.S. Marshals Service (Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force)
• Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office
• King County Sheriff’s Office
• Lewis County Sheriff’s Office
• Mason County Sheriff’s Office
• Pacific County Sheriff’s Office
• Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
• Seattle Police Department
• Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General
• Thurston County Communications Center
• Thurston County Sheriff’s Office
• Washington State Department of Corrections
• Washington State Patrol

Among those arrested include Roderick Terry Reed III, age 31, of Grays Harbor County who was wanted by task force members on an outstanding Department of Corrections warrant on an underlying assault charge.  Reed is also the main suspect in the horrific beating of Marlon Lee, also of Grays Harbor County, in which Reed and another suspect allegedly severely beat and set fire to Lee on Monday, November 17^th.  A team of 5 County Clean Up task force officers assisted Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office personnel in tracking and apprehending Reed on Thursday, November 20^th at approximately 2:20 PM at an address in Hoquiam.

Another arrest included that of Washington State Patrol and Mason County Most Wanted fugitive Woodrow Franklin Dillon, age 61, of Mason County.  Dillon was wanted for a vehicular assault that occurred on April 13, 2007.  Dillon, driving under the influence of alcohol, crossed the center line of State Route 106 near milepost 6 in Mason County, and hit and severely injured the occupant of the other vehicle.  Dillon was found to have a blood alcohol level of .19, over twice the legal limit.  Dillon failed to appear for subsequent court proceedings.  Operation 5 County Clean Up investigators determined that Dillon had fled to Ohio.  A collateral lead was sent to the U.S. Marshals Service office in Cincinnati resulting in Dillon’s apprehension on Tuesday, November 18^th.

Individuals wanted on outstanding felony warrants from the participating agencies were arrested in Eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Ohio.  “The days of criminals being able to simply leave the jurisdiction where they are wanted in order to avoid apprehension is over” said U.S. Marshal Joe Hawe.  “No matter where they attempt to run, the combined resources and incredible dedication of the federal, state and local law enforcement officers won’t allow these fugitive felons a safe location to hide.”

The PNWFAT is a U.S. Marshals-sponsored partnership comprised of investigators from the King County Sheriff's Office, Seattle Police Department, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, Washington State Department of Corrections, and the U.S. Marshals Service.  The Task Force is supported by the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative and was formed to concentrate apprehension efforts to remove federal, state and local fugitives from the streets.  The Task Force objective is to disrupt illegal gang, gun and drug activity in the Pacific Northwest and to reduce the amount of violence in the region.

For more information about the U.S. Marshals Service, visit http://www.usmarshals.gov or U.S. Marshal’s Western Washington website at www.usmarshals.gov/district/wa-w. For additional information on the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, go to the PSN website at www.psn.gov.

For additional information on the operation contact U.S. Marshal Joe Hawe at 206-370-8601 or Supervisory Deputy Tom Lanier at 206-963-1658.

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