Fugitive Task Force involved in 3 chases in 2 weeks

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — A specialized task force meant to find and arrest violent fugitives in our community has been involved in two high-speed vehicle chases through parts of the City of Rochester this week and a separate foot chase last week. In all three cases, the suspects were taken into custody without major injuries.

The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force is comprised of federal agents, Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies, Rochester Police Officers and Monroe County Probation Officers. In most cases, they work undercover trying to identify, track and arrest individuals who are wanted on warrants for violent crimes.

If the task force pursues a suspect, chances are they are not going to call off the chase as some other agencies might.

“That’s because these are violent individuals and they’re committing crimes out there and they need to be apprehended and held responsible for the crimes they committed,” said Jeremy Marrero, the Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Western District of New York.

The task force prepares for the possibility of a chase with every arrest.

“We have the benefit of doing our homework before going after these guys and most times it is documented in prior arrest reports that they did flee,” explained Ryan Spain, the other Deputy U.S. Marshal on the team.

High-speed chases can get dangerous quickly and not just for those who are directly involved so how do they balance the risk?

“Even if we know that the person we’re looking for is in that car, if there are other individuals in that car, children involved, if it’s in an unsafe area, a lot of people in front of a business or a restaurant we’re not gonna do anything unsafe that’s going to jeopardize the community,” Spain explained, “so, we do take our time to try to set it up while we’re conducting any sort of vehicle operation, in the safest area possible.”

It doesn’t look like the work will slow down anytime soon.

“RPD just increased their resources over here, they sent another investigator over here assigned to us to take those violent cases on,” Marrero said, “and about two weeks ago, Monroe County increased their size by double to assist us with this because of the caseload we have right now.”

The hope, Marrero says, is to bring wanted fugitives in as safely and quietly as possible but that doesn’t always happen.

“I was born and raised here and if you go back 30 years, I don’t think we’ve ever seen this many car chases or shootings," Marrero said. "It’s a little personal for me to make a change and get these individuals off the street.”