FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: April 23, 2008 Tom Morefield (912) 429-4625   Sexual Predator Captured   A sexual predator fugitive wanted by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department for a Felony Probation Violation was arrested by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Department. Stephen Alexander Bell was being sought on a Probation Violation Warrant issued in Savannah, Georgia charging him with violating his probation for the removal of the state mandated monitoring device. Bell was declared a sexual predator by the Sexual Offender Review Board on March 14, 2008. He was equipped with an electronic monitoring device on April 2, 2008. It appeared Bell removed the electronic device the week of April 7th and absconded Tybee Island, GA the same week. During the course of the investigation, the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF) developed information that Bell was an avid sailor and had made utterances that he wanted another sailboat. While checking with the Tybee Island Police Department, SERFTF discovered a sailboat had recently been reported stolen out of Lazaretto Creek. At that point, Tybee Island Police Department entered the sailboat into NCIC for a nationwide lookout. Fugitive investigators made contact with U.S. Coast Guard (Tybee) concerning the stolen sailboat and fugitive may be the occupant. USCG Tybee notified all Coast Guard stations from Charleston to Miami to be on the lookout for the sailboat and the fugitive. SERFTF assisted the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department and the Probation Office with leads, follow-up interviews, and tips from Crime Stoppers. On April 22, 2008, approximately 11:00 p.m., a caller from Brevard County notified USCG (Port Canaveral) about a drifting sailboat near the jetties. The Coast Guard responded and noticing the description and name of the sailboat recognized it from the USCG nation-wide lookout. The Brevard County Sheriff’s Department was contacted for assistance and identified the sole occupant as Stephen Alexander Bell on the drifting sailboat. Bell is being held at the Brevard County Jail awaiting charges/ extradition. Annually, investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the apprehension of approximately 34,000 federal fugitives. More federal fugitives are arrested by the Marshals Service than all other federal agencies combined. 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. Last year, U.S. Marshals task forces arrested more than 27,000 state and local fugitives on felony charges. Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.