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 White Plains, NY - First it was deadbeat parents, now it’s criminal fugitives. Westchester County is serious about rounding up those who defy the law, and is willing to pay hard cash to get results.
Westchester County has announced a rewards program that offers up to $500 for information leading to the arrest of criminal fugitives wanted on warrants. The rewards program was modeled on another county program which displayed the photos of deadbeat parents in the New York Post and on the county’s website.
A similar ad – this time featuring four fugitives – appears today in the New York Post, and a list and photos of additional wanted suspects can be found at http://www.westchestergov.com/warrantwatch/. A cash reward is available for information leading to the arrest of suspects featured on the Warrant Watch web page.
“Keeping the public safe is always foremost in everything we do,” County Executive Andy Spano said. “Getting these wanted criminals off the street is one of the ways we accomplish that.”
Anyone with information on these wanted persons should call 911 or contact the Westchester County Department of Public Safety tip line at 1-800-898-TIPS.
Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Belfiore said the county police Warrant-Fugitive Unit arrested 353 people with active warrants in 2007. He hopes the reward incentive will help police to hunt down even more fugitives.
“Everyone knows that money talks. I’m hoping that offering rewards will help us bring some of these fugitives back to justice,” Belfiore said.
The rewards legislation approved by the Board of Legislators permits a reward of up to $500 for information that leads to the capture of a person wanted on a felony warrant. Suspects wanted on misdemeanor warrants can bring a reward of $250.
Some of the suspects featured on the county’s Warrant Watch page are convicted criminals who are being sought for violating the terms of their probation. Others are wanted on arrest warrants accusing them of specific crimes.
The Warrant Watch web site currently features 46 people being sought by county police or the Department of Probation on charges ranging from murder to rape to violation of probation for failing to report to their probation officers after being convicted of serious crimes.
The county is hoping to achieve the same success with these ads as it has with its deadbeat parent ad campaign. The county has published three such ads in the New York Post since October 2006 and has located ten most wanted deadbeats – including one mother – and recouped $45,595 from them. That doesn’t include the number of parents in arrears who were not featured in ads, but responded after seeing the ad in the newspaper.
Fugitives featured in the newspaper ad are:
Isabel Dasilva, 46, whose last known address was 305 Fischer Avenue, White Plains. Ms. Dasilva was convicted of grand larceny for stealing more than $70,000 in jewelry from five homes while she was employed as a house cleaner. She failed to appear for sentencing in 2002.
Timothy Carey, 40, whose last known address was in Mohegan Lake, N.Y., is wanted for Violation of Probation on a Felony DWI charge. Carey has multiple DWI convictions and stopped reporting to his probation officer. He is known to have visited friends in New Jersey shore communities.
Marcelo Aguilar, 21, whose last known address was on Harding Avenue in White Plains, is wanted for Violation of Probation on a Rape charge. Aguilar is accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Tyrell Nelson, 22, whose last known address is in Yonkers, is wanted for Violation of Probation on a robbery charge. He and a group of friends were convicted of luring a pizza deliveryman into a stairwell and brutally beating and robbing him. The victim suffered a broken jaw and needed multiple stitches. Nelson, who also goes by the first name Terrell, has stopped reporting to his probation officer.
Anyone with information on these wanted persons should call 911 or contact the Westchester County Department of Public Safety tip line at 1-800-898-TIPS.
Calls are confidential.
Do not attempt to apprehend any of these suspects on your own.
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