A fugitive wanted by the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department was arrested by the Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Columbus, Georgia office and the Troup County Sheriff’s Department on October 22, 2008.

Jerry Edwards, 26, was being sought on a warrant issued in Savannah, Georgia charging him with Aggravated Child Molestation on a minor. The incident happened on September 21, 2008 at a Kendall Court address in Savannah, Georgia.

The case was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force to locate and arrest. Task Force members worked numerous leads in their attempts to locate Edwards. Savannah Fugitive Task Force members generated an address in the Columbus, Georgia area and requested the assistance of the Columbus, Georgia Marshals Office. Deputy Marshals from the Columbus office worked the leads sent from Savannah and determined that Edwards was at an address in LaGrange, Georgia. Deputy Marshals and investigators from the Troup County Sheriff’s Department went to the address of #2 Barry Avenue in LaGrange, GA. After knocking on the door and no one answered, a neighbor stated that the resident was probably at work. Investigators went to go find the resident. The female resident returned to the address and told investigators that Edwards was inside and agreed to let them in. Before they could enter the residence, Edwards came out of the front door and surrendered without incident. Edwards was taken to the Troup County Jail to await pick up by Chatham County.

Annually, investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the apprehension of approximately 36,000 federal fugitives. More federal fugitives are arrested by the Marshals Service than all other federal agencies combined.

The Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force has three offices: Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah and cover the whole state of Georgia. The Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force is a team comprised of law enforcement officers from the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Chatham County Sheriff's Department, the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, and the United States Marshals Service. The task force objective is to seek out and arrest fugitives charged with violent crimes, drug crimes, sex offenders, and other felonies. Last year, U.S. Marshals task forces arrested more than 58,600 state and local fugitives on felony charges.

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.