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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
October 26, 2006

Roxanna L. Irwin
Acting United States Marshal
Eastern District of Louisiana

For More Information Contact:
Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair (504)589-2145
USMS Headquarters Public Affairs (202) 307-9065
 
U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S POST HURRICANE KATRINA NEW ORLEANS CRIME INITIATIVE KICKS INTO GEAR WITH U.S. MARSHALS ARREST OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, GEORGIA ESCAPEE AND MULTIPLE OTHER ARRESTS
 
On the afternoon of October 26, 2006, the Eastern District of Louisiana U.S. Marshals Crescent Star Fugitive Task Force (CSFTF) arrested Curtis Nolan Brooks, 43 years old, on warrants out of Franklin County, Georgia charging him with escape, robbery, criminal interference with government property, kidnapping, aggravated assault, obstruction of an officer, and burglary. Surveillance was conducted and Brooks was arrested without incident as he walked down Loyola Avenue, across from the Grey Hound Bus Terminal in downtown New Orleans.

The warrants are related to an October 09, 2006, incident in which Brooks and another male are believed to have overpowered and handcuffed a correctional officer at the Franklin County, Georgia Detention Center. They then escaped by making a hole in the wall of a shower. Two days after the escape the Franklin County Sheriff's Office developed information that the two fugitives were in an abandoned trailer in their county. They were able to arrest the other fugitive, but Brooks was able to escape by running into a wooded area.

U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF) was contacted by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office for assistance. Through investigation, it was learned that Brooks had fled to New Orleans. SERFTF then contacted CSFTF for assistance. Brooks was arrested after several hours of surveillance in the CBD area of New Orleans. At the time of his arrest he was walking down the street with a bag filled with scrap metal.

On the same day CSFTF cleared several warrants to include: an aggravated battery by shooting (suspect: Deron Hunter) in which Hunter's father was arrested for harboring a fugitive, a probation warrant out of Mississippi, a failure to register as a sex offender warrant, and an attempted forcible rape warrant out of Orleans Parish. Earlier this week CSFTF also arrested a man in the Mid City area of New Orleans on a warrant out of Forsyth County, North Carolina for child pornography, and Tyrone Claborne on a second degree murder warrant out of New Orleans.

Several months ago U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales committed the U.S. Department of Justice to assist in the rising crime problems plaguing the New Orleans metro area. Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the U.S. Marshals Service, have committed additional resources to assist.

CSFTF is currently working with the New Orleans Police Department's Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) on many of their violent and sex offender related warrants. CSFTF is staffed by officers from New Orleans Police Department, Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office, St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office, Louisiana Probation and Parole, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Services. CSFTF also assist other agencies such as Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office on fugitives that leave the New Orleans metro area and flee out of state.

U.S. Marshals are the nation’s primary fugitive hunting organization and capture more federal fugitives each year than all other law enforcement agencies combined. For more information, go to www.usmarshals.gov .