FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: April 11, 2008 Supervisory Inspector James Ergas April 11, 2008 404-909-0444   US MARSHALS CAPTURE GYPSY HOME INVASION SUSPECT   ATLANTA, GA- At approximately 1:30 pm today, Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Southern District of West Virginia and troopers from the West Virginia State Police arrested Fabian Lee Small, 29, at a residence in Princeton, West Virginia. Small was wanted by authorities in Habersham County, GA on the charges of home invasion and aggravated assault for his alleged participation in a home invasion robbery in which a seventy-nine year old woman was victimized. In the late afternoon of February 13, 2007, investigators believe that Small and a group of other individuals known as 'English Travelers' or 'Gypsies' knocked on the door of the elderly woman's home under the guise of giving roof repair estimates. Once they were able to gain entry into the home, they quickly identified the safe where the woman kept a large portion of her savings. Then, armed with a shotgun, they proceeded to tie up and beat the woman before robbing her of approximately $100,000.00 in cash. After the home invasion, the case was turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) for investigation. After a short time, the GBI and Habersham County Sheriff's Office investigators was able to capture all of the suspects except Small who remained a fugitive. On March 19, 2008, the GBI requested assistance from the U.S. Marshal's Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force in Atlanta, GA. Within several weeks of initiating their investigation, task force personnel received information that Small was possibly in the town of Princeton, West Virginia and a collateral lead was forwarded to the U.S. Marshals office there. At around 1:00 pm, officers positively identified a residence where they believed Small to be hiding and responded to the scene. After making entry into the home, they encountered Small's wife and another female who both became verbally abusive. After removing the females, officers continued to search the house for Small who was eventually found hiding in the basement in the bottom of a sofa with the cushions placed over top of him. When officers attempted to place him in custody, Small became combative and had to be subdued. He was ultimately placed under arrest and transported to the Southern Regional Jail in nearby Beaver, West Virginia where he will await extradition back to Georgia. The US Marshals' led Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF) is a team comprised of law enforcement officers from 25 local, state and federal agencies. The task force's objective is to seek out and arrest the region's most violent offenders. Since the inception of the task force in September of 2003, the SERFTF has closed over 10,000 felony warrants. Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov .