Tresa Baldas

Detroit Free Press

Gang members. Rapists. Killers. The worst of the worst.

That's how the federal government today described the nearly 400 wanted criminals who were arrested in the Eastern District of Michigan in a nationwide crackdown on fugitives. According to the U.S. Marshals, the arrests are the result of a six-week initiative called Operation Violence Reduction 12, in which investigators focused on the country’s most violent offenders, targeting fugitives who had three or more prior felony arrests for crimes including murder, robbery, kidnapping and child molestation. Investigators also recovered 17 children who had been abducted and reported missing across the country.

Notable arrests in Metro Detroit include:

Timothy Terry, who was wanted by Detroit police in connection to the homicide of a man who was gunned down while outside a Home Depot store on Detroit's west side. Terry was arrested in Ohio.

Christopher Housel, who was wanted in Ohio for the attempted murder of a college student who was set on fire while attending a party. A Detroit fugitive task force team found him in Hartland.

Melvin Thomas, an accused serial rapist whom the Wayne County Sheriff's Rape Task Force identified from a successful DNA match stemming from a rape that had occurred in 1995. Authorities did not say where he was arrested, only that he was.

“Through the continued partnership of the community and law enforcement, there is no limit to what can be accomplished. If you commit a crime, you will be held accountable. We will exhaust all resources to ensure that a fugitive faces justice," said U.S. Marshal Robert Grubbs.

While Operation VR12 was conducted nationwide, the U.S. Marshals focused special attention on 12 locations designated as priority cities by the U.S. Department of Justice. Detroit was not on this list, which included: Baltimore, Brooklyn, NY, Chicago, Gary, Ind., Milwaukee, New Orleans and Savannah, Ga.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com