A fugitive wanted by the Natchitoches Parish
Sheriff’s Office on outstanding warrants was arrested by the U.S. Marshals
Fugitive Task Force, the Camden County Sheriff’s Department, and the
Kingsland Police Department on September 18, 2008.
Richard Patrick Maher aka Stephen Hegarty was being sought on a warrant
issued in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana charging him with Escape which
occurred on September 6, 2008. Maher was in jail on a 2006 burglary charge.
The case was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Western Louisiana Fugitive
Task Force to locate and arrest him. The investigation revealed leads that
were in the Kingsland, Georgia, area and passed the case to the Southeast
Regional Fugitive Task Force in Savannah. At approximately nine o’clock pm
on September 18, 2008, the Marshals Task force in Louisiana received a call
that Maher was at a lounge in Kingsland, Georgia. This information was
passed to the Savannah Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force. Deputy
Marshals from the Brunswick, Georgia task force and other local investigator
assigned to the task force as well as the Camden County Sheriff’s Department
and Kingsland Police Department went to the Oasis Lounge at the Ramada Inn
Hotel in Kingsland to look for Maher. Maher was found at the lounge and
arrested without incident. Maher was searched pursuant to the arrest and a
vehicle key was found in his pocket which led investigators to a GMC truck
in the parking lot which turned out to be stolen from Alabama. There was
also a stolen tag on the truck from Florida. Maher is being charged locally
with those offenses as well as assault for attacking a Deputy Sheriff that
was placing him in the backseat of his patrol car for transport to the jail.
Maher was taken to the Camden County Jail to hearings on his local charges
and also to await extradition proceedings to send him back to Louisiana.
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. The Brunswick Task Force is made
up of U.S. Marshals, Glynn County Police, Brunswick Police, Camden County
Sheriff’s Department, Glynn County Sheriff’s Department, Kingsland Police,
McIntosh County Sheriff’s Department, and the Wayne County Sheriff’s
Department. 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. |
