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Fayetteville, AR – The Northwest
Arkansas Sex Offender and Violent Crime Task Force announces the
arrest of Jerry Wayne Strode, 54, a career criminal with over 40
arrests spanning back to 1968. Members of the River Valley Sex
Offender Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service in Muskogee,
Oklahoma arrested Strode early Tuesday morning at his work site near
Poteau, Oklahoma. The Northwest Arkansas Sex Offender Task Force
adopted the case at the request of Johnson Police Department,
Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Madison County Sheriff’s
Office. The Task Force had been tracking Strode since late November
2007, with some success. Following a request for investigative
assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service in Colorado, a vital piece
of intelligence was provided and the case took a positive turn.
Strode has ties to Colorado and Eastern Arkansas, and along with
some 20 plus alias names and numerous birth dates, Strode was able
to remain at large until a short time after the Task Force adopted
the case.
Strode fled a short distance and was
found hiding in brush near his work site located in an isolated
region of Le Flore County, Oklahoma. Strode was later booked into
the Le Flore County Detention Center, where he is awaiting formal
extradition to Washington County, Arkansas.
Strode was wanted on charges for
Failing to Register as a previously convicted sex offender and
fraud, both felonies in the State of Arkansas. Strode has an
extensive criminal record, and was last classified as a Level 3 sex
offender.
Agencies involved in this case
include the Johnson Police Department, Washington, Madison, and
White County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Marshals Service in Little
Rock and Fort Smith, Arkansas, as well as the U.S. Marshals Service in
Colorado and Muskogee, Oklahoma.
It was the combined efforts of both
the Northwest Arkansas and River Valley Sex Offender Task Forces
that made this arrest possible. According to U.S. Marshal Richard
O’Connell, “The concept behind these task forces is to bring local
agencies together in a combined effort to make our communities
safer.” In this case, that’s exactly what happened, and the U.S.
Marshals Service is proud to play a part of the effort. |
