FBI arrests 44 'violent fugitives' in Wayne County

Tresa Baldas | Detroit Free Press

An FBI-led mission dubbed ''Operation Purge' has led to the arrests of 44 fugitives in the city of Detroit and Wayne County, where authorities said violent criminals were hiding out to escape charges of all sorts.

According to the FBI, which announced the arrests on Friday, most of the fugitives arrested were wanted for felony assault. Others were facing armed robbery, domestic violence and gun charges.

“The residents of the City of Detroit and Wayne County should not have to worry about violent fugitives roaming freely on their streets,” said Detroit's FBI chief Steven D’Antuono. “The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to assist these communities to take back their streets and to help make our neighborhoods safe so that residents can go about their lives from fear of violence.”

Operation Purge also led to the discovery that hundreds of outstanding warrants in Detroit and Wayne County involved people who are dead. Law enforcement learned this after reviewing more than 2,300 warrants. During the initial review, the FBI said, 360 offenders were found to be deceased, 80 were incarcerated, and 384 were found out of state.

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Operation Purge involved analysts from the FBI Detroit office, FBI headquarters, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, and the Detroit Police Department — all of whom reviewed the 2,300-plus warrants.

Operation Purge is a national, intelligence-driven fugitive operation designed to remove the most violent offenders from the streets. Detroit's operation involved the FBI's violent crimes and violent gang task forces, the FBI Organized Crime Squad, the U.S. Marshals and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The names of those arrested were not released.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com