FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: |
November 15, 2008 |
Chief Inspector Keith Booker
USMS Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force
(404) 909-0449;
USMS Headquarters Public Affairs (202) 307-9065 |
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Capture of U.S. Marshals "15 Most Wanted,"
Johnny Mack Brown |
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Lavonia,
GA - At approximately 1:30 on Saturday morning, uniformed
officers from the Lavonia Police Department captured U.S. Marshals
'15 Most Wanted' fugitive, Johnny Mack Brown. Brown was captured in
a wooded area in Franklin County after being spotted as he walking
along railroad tracks in the area. As officers attempted to identify
him, in an effort to elude law enforcement, Brown ran across a four
lane highway into the woods. As officers and canine units caught up
with Brown, he fought with them and had to be subdued with force,
including the use of a Taser.
Brown, who escaped Oct. 13 from Hays State Prison in Trion, GA, was
added to the Marshals' Most Wanted list on Halloween night. He and
fellow inmate, Michael Tweedel, made their way to freedom by
climbing atop a dormitory building to avoid an interior fence and
scaling two perimeter fences and eight strands of razor wire.
Brown began his stay at Hays State Prison in 1999. He was serving a
life sentence plus 70 years for the 1997 shooting of an armored-car
guard in which he was convicted of aggravated assault with intent to
murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery, theft by taking,
hijacking a motor vehicle and aggravated assault.
This was Brown's second escape from prison. He previously escaped
Georgia's Clarke County Jail in 1998 by crawling under a fence and
scaling a wall. He then went on a three-state crime spree that
included breaking into a South Carolina home and hiding in the attic
unnoticed for three days. When the homeowner discovered him, Brown
beat the 84-year-old man with a barbell. Brown was apprehended three
weeks after that escape in Daytona, Fla.
Upon Brown and Tweedel's escape from Hays, authorities launched a
massive search from land and air that involved over 65 officers and
canine units, including numerous members of the U.S. Marshals'
Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF). Brown was next
spotted Oct. 20 when he allegedly abducted a Chattooga County, Ga.
woman from her home at knife point and forced her to drive him to
Franklin County, GA, where he had family connections.
During the investigation, information gathered by the Georgia
Department of Corrections and the SERFTF was relayed to authorities
in Franklin County, who, along with the GBI and Highway Patrol,
recently concentrated their search efforts in the rural areas
surrounding the county. Based on that information, they were able to
positively identify Brown after locating him in the early morning
hours.
“The apprehension of ‘Top 15’ fugitive Johnny Mack Brown
demonstrates a familiar outcome when criminals are put on our most
wanted list,” said Director John F. Clark of the U.S. Marshals
Service. “Putting a spotlight on these fugitives, and committing the
resources of the U.S. Marshals and our partners to bring them in,
means their days of violent, criminal behavior are numbered and they
will be brought back to justice.”
The U.S. Marshals Service is the nation's oldest federal law
enforcement agency. Annually, U.S. Marshals arrest more federal
fugitives and serve more federal warrants than all other federal
agencies combined. For more information on USMS 15 Most Wanted
fugitives and USMS Major Cases, go to
www.usmarshals.gov.
Original News Release
America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency |
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