Police stop pursuing nearly 79,000 fugitives [View all]
Accused rapists, murderers are allowed to escape, and the victims aren't told
YUCAIPA, Calif. – For a time, the intruder charged with pressing a revolver to Armando Botello's forehead truly was a wanted man. When he disappeared, the police promised to pursue him anywhere in the United States.
No longer. Last year, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department notified the FBI that it would pursue the accused armed robber only as far as the state border, even though investigators suspected he had long since left California.
In effect, the change meant that as long as the gunman left the state, he, like thousands of others, was now free to go.
Nationwide, police and prosecutors quietly told the FBI they had abandoned their pursuit of nearly 79,000 accused felons during the past year and a half, a USA TODAY investigation found. They have given up chasing people charged with armed robbery and raping children, usually without informing their victims. Police in one county in California reported they would no longer pursue three of their most-wanted fugitives and a man charged with a murder for which prosecutors have sought the death penalty.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/18/fugitives-crossing-state-lines/20240425/
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