U.S. Marshals Spear Unit Sees Success in First Month of Operations

Cleveland, OH – The U.S. Marshals newest investigative team has seen great success in their first month of operations.  The SPEAR Unit, Specialized Personnel for Enforcement, Apprehension and Recovery, has been working diligently on all cases encompassing their investigative areas, including sex offenders, missing children and cold cases. 

Over the past month, the team has worked on cases that took investigations not only across Ohio but as far away as Florida and Louisiana. Fugitives Dennis Nagle and Daniel Bohatch were both cold cases as well as sex offenders who were arrested in the last month.  Nagel, wanted for sex offender registration violations, had been on the run for 15 years.  Bohatch, wanted for 7 years, was wanted for multiple counts of rape and gross sexual imposition with victims under the age of 13.  Additionally, Craig Scanlon, who was wanted for various fraud violations here in Ohio, was finally tracked down and arrested in Florida after 18 years on the run. All cases were closed due to the persistent work of the investigators in the SPEAR Unit. 

Another focus of the SPEAR unit are fugitives wanted for failing to register their approved address on the sex offender registry.  To aid in locating these fugitives the SPEAR Unit is featuring three wanted fugitives each month to elicit the public’s help in finding them. The featured fugitives are all wanted for either new sex offenses or violations of the terms of their registration requirements. During the month of February, all three highlighted fugitive cases were closed by the SPEAR Unit. 

Since the beginning of February, the Missing Child Unit, also part of the SPEAR Unit, has located 4 missing children and recovered another one.  The missing child that was recovered was found hiding in the attic of a home in Garfield Heights.  The adult male found with her was arrested by Garfield Heights Police.  This recovery was completed with the assistance of the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force. The SPEAR Unit continues to follow leads on cases for missing children throughout northern Ohio, across the country, and internationally as well.  

U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated, “The United States Marshals Service success dates back to 1789 when the agency was formed.  Here in Northern Ohio, we will continue that success through innovative programs, partnerships with our community and law enforcement, and most importantly, dedicated work by the investigators assigned to these investigations.”

Anyone with information concerning a wanted fugitive can contact the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4WANTED (1-866-492-6833), or you can submit a web tip. Reward money is available, and tipsters may remain anonymous.  Follow the U.S. Marshals on Twitter @USMSCleveland.  

Division of The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force include – Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Lorain, Mansfield, Painesville, Toledo, and Youngstown.