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Members of the fugitive squad at the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office attempt to get inside a house in Knoxville to arrest a man wanted on a family court warrant.
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In pursuit of fugitives in Allegheny County

Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette

In pursuit of fugitives in Allegheny County

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shadowed Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies on the fugitives squads during three shifts. The following is an account of one of them.

The first fugitive on the deputies’ list for the day isn’t their typical one.

Lamont Powell was the intended target in a Wilkinsburg shooting in March that left five adults and an unborn child dead, officials have said. They’ve also said he’s a suspect in a 2013 killing, though he’s never been charged with it.

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On this summer day, when the Allegheny County sheriff’s day fugitive squad is searching for him, he’s wanted on a bench warrant for missing his trial in an unrelated DUI case.

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The deputies prepare to leave the Allegheny County courthouse shortly before 8 a.m. They hope Powell will be staying with his children after a summer holiday.

They’re working on tips and hear he’s been driving a black sports car.

Before they leave, Sgt. Doug Clark looks up the address on Google street view. It’s a tan house with a brick porch in Marshall-Shadeland. The deputies start heading there. One car drives ahead of the others, and the deputy inside passes along information about two cars parked outside.

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Neither car comes back to Powell, but one is registered to someone with a “common crime name” in Pittsburgh, Sgt. Clark says.

The deputies pull up outside the house and divide up. One person goes behind the house. Another stays across the street. Some head toward the porch as one of the deputies knocks.

“Police.”

“Hello, open the door ... police.”

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They continue knocking until they hear someone running inside.

A woman comes outside and tells the deputies her baby is inside. One young child comes out with his hands up. Two others look unfazed.

The deputies head inside and find Powell. Sgt. Clark says they found him in the back bedroom, his hands in the air.

“He was caught,” the sergeant says. “He knew he was caught. They did the right thing.”

Relying on the sheriff

Probation and parole agencies in some of the nation’s largest counties have officers dedicated solely to finding fugitives.

Not here.

In Allegheny County, the local probation office relies on the sheriff’s office to find people wanted on violation warrants. But they also have to find people wanted on other cases. The sheriff’s office estimates there are between 10,000 and 20,000 open warrants in the area.

During the time that the Post-Gazette shadowed the squads, they were able to “clear” about a dozen warrants — some by arresting people, other times by passing information along to other departments to do arrests, and other times by confirming that someone was dead or already in jail. The majority of the warrants they cleared were for people who failed to appear at court hearings — not probation violations.

The sheriff’s office has 15 people dedicated to finding fugitives, but often, because of staffing constraints, they can use only six at a time. Deputies say they’d like to have eight people out at once.

Safety is greater in numbers, Sgt. Clark says.

Finding the next person

The deputies drive Powell to the Allegheny County Jail, where he’ll remain until Washington County officials pick him up.

Then, it’s off to find the next person — a woman who didn’t show up for her aggravated assault trial. They learn that the woman died before she missed the hearing, consider the warrant “cleared” and move on to the next person.

Next is a man who is wanted on a probation violation warrant for a trespassing charge. Deputies visit an Arlington apartment to find him and learn that he’s in the Beaver County Jail — a fact they confirm with authorities. Sometimes smaller departments forget to call other agencies when they pick up one of their people, Sgt. Clark says.

They find another man, a probation violator, at a Knoxville home.

They move quickly from place to place — trying to beat the afternoon heat. By now, it’s about 10 a.m. The next house on their list is one they’ve been to before. The man they’re seeking now rarely answers the door when they knock and instead tends to lie still, hoping they’ll go away. It doesn’t always work for him.

The deputies knock and don’t get an answer. Sgt. Clark tries to pick the lock, but it’s broken and won’t open. They notice half-eaten watermelon in the trash and cigarette butts outside. They force their way inside. The man isn’t there.

The next man on their list is wanted on a probation violation warrant but isn’t home. The man after that is wanted for failing to appear at trial. His mother tells deputies she hasn’t seen him in awhile but saw on Facebook that he might have been shot.

The deputies search next for a woman who missed her burglary trial, but she’s not home either.

Their final stop is a home in Overbrook. The fugitive isn’t home, but his father helps arrange for a surrender the next day.

It’s a little past noon now and time for lunch. The squad heads to a pizza place and splits two pies. Then, it’s back to the office to do paperwork. They’ll write reports on today’s arrests and prepare to do it all again tomorrow.

Liz Navratil: lnavratil@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1438 or on Twitter @LizNavratil.

First Published: August 21, 2016, 4:00 a.m.

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Members of the fugitive squad at the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office attempt to get inside a house in Knoxville to arrest a man wanted on a family court warrant.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Allegheny County sheriff's deputies arrest Lamont Powell, 24, who was wanted on a bench warrant after he missed his trial in a Washington County DUI case. Officials have said Powell was the intended target in a Wilkinsburg shooting that left five adults and an unborn child dead in March.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
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