Operation FALCON 2009: Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally

FALCON 15

The Following 15 Individuals Were the Top Targets of Operation FALCON 2009 (All subjects are assumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law)

1. Dion Durrell Hayes (C/CA)  PDF Version

Members of the Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force, Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Central District of California and officers from the Los Angeles Police Department arrested Dion Durrell Hayes June 29. A member of the 79 Swan Bloods gang, Hayes was wanted for murder and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution related to a July 2005 drive-by shooting that left one rival gang member wounded and another dead. Hayes was on the Department of Justice GangTECC Most Wanted list and the Los Angeles Police Department Top Ten Most Wanted list. FALCON team members developed information indicating Hayes was going to participate in a narcotics transaction in a local apartment and responded to that location. Task Force members then entered the apartment and apprehended Hayes.

2. Danny Murchison (E/NC)  PDF Version

Members of the Eastern District of North Carolina Violent Fugitive Task Force, along with officers participating in Operation FALCON, arrested Danny Murchison June 18 in Linden, N.C. Murchison was wanted in connection with the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl. He allegedly raped his victim in his home on numerous occasions between April 2008 and June 2009. Murchison is charged with 15 counts of first-degree rape of a child, 15 counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and 15 counts of incest. Currently, Murchison is held in the Cumberland County Detention Center in North Carolina under a $1.5 million secured bond. According to prior records from the North Carolina Department of Corrections, Murchison was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in 1991.

3. Daryl Eugene Smith (N/MS)  PDF Version

Members of the USMS Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force and Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Northern District of Mississippi arrested Daryl Smith, a cold case fugitive, June 1. Smith was wanted in Maricopa County, Ariz., for a murder that occurred 22 years ago. After the Phoenix Police Department contacted deputies from the District of Arizona with a request for assistance in apprehending Smith, the case became an Operation FALCON priority. Two weeks into the case, information was developed indicating Smith was possibly living under an alias in Columbus, Miss. FALCON team members determined that a Gene Smith who was previously booked and released into the Lowndes County (Mississippi) Jail was, in fact, Daryl Eugene Smith. On June 1, Task Force officers traveled to Columbus, Miss., and established surveillance at several locations. A short time later, an individual fitting Smith’s description was observed leaving a residence. Officers approached the individual and after making a positive identification, arrested Smith without incident. He was transported to the Lowndes County Jail to await extradition back to Arizona. Smith has a long criminal history that includes aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, battery, weapons charges and numerous narcotic arrests.

4. Ivan Alvarado (S/CA)  PDF Version

Ivan Alvarado was wanted by the USMS Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force in San Diego for homicide in connection with a shooting Jan. 23, 2006. Alvarado is a documented gang member with a particularly violent criminal history. The Task Force had arrested Alvarado twice in the past, and both times he was carrying loaded weapons. Following the shooting, which occurred at a party in front of several witnesses, the San Diego Police Department named Alvarado to its Ten Most Wanted list. His fugitive case also was profiled on America’s Most Wanted in December 2007. Information was developed May 27 indicating Alvarado might be residing in Primo Tapia, Baja Mexico. On June 1, Task Force members joined with Mexican law enforcement officers to arrest Alvarado. He was found with two loaded firearms. Alvarado was turned over to Mexican Immigration officials, who promptly expelled him from the country. He was placed in USMS custody and transported back to San Diego, where he is awaiting court proceedings and faces life in prison if convicted.

5. Slawomir Wojtkowski (D/NJ)  PDF Version

Deputy U.S. Marshals from the District of New Jersey arrested Slawomir Wojtkowski June 4 on a Provisional Arrest Warrant. Wojtkowski was wanted in Poland for using his position as a Polish police officer to allow a prostitution ring to operate unimpeded by law enforcement. The prostitution ring, which was allegedly run by Romanian gypsies and Polish organized crime organizations, employed Romanian girls, including minors, who believed they were being hired to work as nannies. According to the complaint, Wojtkowski was directly involved in smuggling girls from Romania to Poland, as well as using physical force to compel the girls to engage in prostitution. He is also identified as working with organized crime individuals to disrupt several attempts by law enforcement to identify the prostitution operation. FALCON team members responded to a residence in Wallington, N.J., where Wojtkowski was believed to reside. After investigators confirmed with a neighbor that Wojtkowski was living in an upstairs apartment, they entered the residence and arrested him without incident. Authorities positively identified Wojtkowski by his Polish passport and his U.S. employment authorization card. He remains in custody pending extradition to Poland to face the charges against him.

6. Joseph Christian Fontana (N/FL & DRFFO)  PDF Version

Joseph Christian Fontana was taken into custody June 5 in Cabrera, Dominican Republic. The arrest was the result of coordinated efforts by the USMS International Investigations Branch, the Dirección Nacional de Control de Drogas Fugitive Unit, the USMS Sex Offender Investigations Branch-Florida, and Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Dominican Republic Foreign Field Office and the Northern District of Florida. Fontana was wanted in Santa Rosa County, Fla., for rape of a minor, 25 counts of sexual molestation, child pornography, and lewd and lascivious acts. He also was wanted by the FBI for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. A registered sex offender in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Fontana relocated to Santa Rosa County in 2001, assumed a new identity and allegedly continued to commit sex crimes against minors. In 2001, he fled and was believed to be in South America. Investigative efforts by USMS and DNCD personnel revealed Fontana was residing in Cabrera, Dominican Republic. Surveillance was initiated on several locations June 5. When Fontana was observed leaving his residence, he was taken into custody. Fontana is awaiting a deportation hearing and is expected to be transported to Florida for prosecution.

7. Alex Smart (M/FL)  PDF Version

Alex Smart was wanted in Orlando, Fla., for two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in connection with a triple homicide July 30, 2008. At the time of the crime, local officials considered this the worst murder in Orlando’s history. The USMS Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Smart’s two accomplices in 2008; however, Smart remained on the run. On June 18, investigators developed information indicating Smart was in the Jacksonville area. Task Force officers from the Orlando and Jacksonville divisions established surveillance June 19 on several possible locations. They located Smart at a private residence in Orange Park, Fla. Investigators from the FRFTF and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office called Smart out of the residence in an effort to arrest him June 22. Instead of surrendering, Smart barricaded himself in the attic. Following a brief standoff, he was taken into custody without incident. A search warrant executed on the property following Smart’s arrest resulted in the discovery and seizure of a 9 mm pistol, a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, a .22-caliber rifle, concealable body armor, plastic bags containing cocaine residue and 19 grams of marijuana packaged for sale.

8. Adam Clayton Roberts (N/OK & M/TN)  PDF Version

Adam Clayton Roberts was wanted in Creek County, Okla., on two counts of first-degree homicide, one count of arson and one count of burglary. The charges stem from a violent home invasion and burglary near Bristow, Okla., during which Roberts allegedly shot and killed a female victim and set fire to the house. As the four subjects fled the scene, a 57-year-old male neighbor whom they believed witnessed the crime also was shot as his wife watched from a window. Roberts’ three associates were arrested in April 2006, but he evaded capture. Information was developed May 29 indicating Roberts might be staying with relatives in Nashville, Tenn. Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Northern District of Oklahoma forwarded that information to the Middle District of Tennessee, which led to Roberts’ arrest June 10 in Nashville.

9. Jeremiah Jackson (N/OH)  PDF Version

Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force and officers from the Cleveland Police Department SWAT team arrested Jeremiah Jackson June 20. He was wanted by the Cleveland Police Department for a homicide June 18. Jackson allegedly entered a laundromat on Cleveland’s west side and attempted to rob a female worker. When she resisted, Jackson shot and killed her. The case received significant media attention in the Cleveland area, and Jackson was immediately named as one of Cleveland’s Most Wanted Fugitives. With assistance from the USMS Technical Operations Group, members of NOVFTF identified a residence in Cleveland Heights where Jackson was thought to be residing. Surveillance was established and the SWAT team was called in for assistance. After Jackson realized the extent of the police presence, he surrendered without incident. A search of the residence following Jackson’s arrest revealed a Taurus .380 handgun, which is consistent with the make and caliber of the weapon used in the homicide two days prior. Jackson also was wanted for multiple shootings and armed robberies in the Cleveland area.

10. Gavin Murray (S/NY & N/GA)  PDF Version

The New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force received a request May 20 to assist in locating and arresting Gavin Murray, who was wanted by both the New York State Department of Corrections and the New York State Division of Parole. The Task Force was contacted after Murray was “inappropriately released” by the DOC after serving a three-year sentence for criminal possession of a weapon. Task Force members tracked Murray from the Bronx, N.Y., to Georgia and Mississippi. The investigation ended June 1, when FALCON team members arrested Murray at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Members of the USMS Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the USMS Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the USMS Technical Operations Group provided critical assistance in this investigation and apprehension. Murray is a documented member of the Bloods gang with a long and violent history. While serving his prison sentence on the weapons charge, Murray also was under indictment in Bronx County, N.Y., on two murder charges and is the prime suspect in two other homicides, one in the Bronx and one in Manhattan.

11. Hugo Gonzalez-Gonzalez (D/CO)  PDF Version

Deputy U.S. Marshals from the District of Colorado Fugitive Location and Apprehension Group Task Force, assisted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Fugitive Unit, arrested Hugo Gonzalez-Gonzalez June 3 in Aurora, Colo. He was wanted by authorities in the Republic of Mexico for murder. Gonzalez-Gonzalez reportedly shot a man with a .45-caliber handgun during an argument Jan. 1, 1999 in the community of San Cristóbal, in the State of Guanajuato, Mexico. The Adams County (Colorado) District Attorney’s received information indicating Gonzalez-Gonzalez was living in Denver and using his cousin’s identity for work. FLAG members contacted the U.S. Marshals Service Mexico City Foreign Field Office, which verified the warrant through the office of the Procuraduría General de la República. Investigators from FLAG and ICE conducted surveillance, obtained all the necessary documents and verified employment information over a period of two weeks. On the morning of June 3, investigators went to Gonzalez-Gonzalez’s workplace and advised management that one of their employees was working under false documents. Gonzalez-Gonzalez was taken into custody for being in the United States illegally. Following his arrest, Gonzalez-Gonzalez admitted to his true identity and agreed to a stipulated removal from the United States.

12. James Francis (S/TX)  PDF Version

Members of the USMS Southern District of Texas Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force arrested James Francis June 30 in his motel room at the Best Classic Suites in Houston. Francis was wanted in Lafayette, La., for the brutal murder of a grocery store owner Aug. 31, 2008. The murder took place after Francis’ brother got into an altercation with the store owner over how the owner bagged his beer. As the store owner followed Francis’ brother into the parking lot, Francis allegedly shot and killed the store owner. Because of the brutal nature of this murder, the USMS Western District of Louisiana Fugitive Task Force requested assistance from America’s Most Wanted. On June 13, Francis’ fugitive case was featured on the “15 Seconds of Shame” segment of the broadcast. A tip received June 30 at the USMS Lafayette Office stated Francis had been seen at a Wal-Mart in Houston as well as in the parking lot of the Best Classic Suites. USMS investigators in the Lafayette office forwarded that information to FALCON team members in Houston, who immediately responded to the motel. Three separate interviews with personnel at the motel led investigators to believe Francis was at the motel. Members of the GCVOFTF confirmed Francis’ room and quickly arrested him. Francis had been named the Western District of Louisiana’s FALCON 2009 Most Wanted fugitive.

13. Anthony Velasquez (D/CO)  PDF Version

Anthony Velasquez, a documented member of the Sureños 13 gang, was arrested June 5 in Aurora, Colo., by members of the District of Colorado Fugitive Location and Apprehension Group Task Force and the Aurora Police Department. Velasquez was wanted in California for a parole violation on an original sex offense and by the Aurora Police Department for two counts of attempted homicide and first-degree assault. On May 17, Velasquez and an associate, both armed with shotguns, allegedly went to an apartment complex and opened fire on two victims. Both victims were hit with birdshot and sustained non-life threatening injuries. The Aurora Police Department received two calls June 4 on separate drive-by shootings involving a shotgun. One location was the home of an ex-girlfriend of Velasquez and the other was the home of her friend. During the afternoon of June 5, FLAG investigators received information indicating Velasquez was a passenger in a silver sedan that had temporary tags. Units set up on the highways spotted the vehicle heading toward Aurora. Additional marked units were requested and Velasquez was taken into custody following a traffic stop on a highway off-ramp.

14. Willie Conway (N/IL)  PDF Version

Members of the USMS Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force and deputies from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department arrested Willie Conway June 18 in Chicago. A documented member of the Vice Lords street gang and a convicted sexual predator, Conway was wanted in Kankakee County, Ill., for criminal sexual child fondling. The victim was a nine-year-old girl. During the morning of June 18, GLRFTF investigators established surveillance at a residence in Chicago where they believed Conway was residing. GLRFTF members approached the residence, made contact with Conway and took him into custody. Conway may face additional charges for failure to register as a sex offender.

15. Danielle Medina (N/IN)  PDF Version

Following a two-day search, Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Northern District of Indiana, assisted by the Allen County (Indiana) Sheriff’s Department, arrested 17-year-old Danielle Medina June 9 at a residence in Fort Wayne, Ind. Medina was charged with the aggravated kidnapping of five-month-old Cortez L. Rose, whom she was babysitting at the time of their disappearance. Medina had last been seen with the infant in Madison, Ill. Medina, who has a significant juvenile criminal history, also had outstanding warrants in New York City for robbery and grand larceny. The USMS Southern District of Illinois, the Madison Police Department and the FBI worked together to locate Medina, who was believed to be traveling with a male companion. After investigators located a possible address for Medina in Fort Wayne, collateral lead information was sent that led to Medina’s arrest. Medina will be tried as an adult on the kidnapping charges. Cortez L. Rose was in good health when he was found and was quickly reunited with his mother.