BALTIMORE — 19-year-old Jaheim Battle violated his parole in Pennsylvania and turned up in Baltimore with a firearm with a high-capacity magazine.
22-year-old Davon Coleman is suspected of murder and a search during his arrest turned up more than two dozen vials of crack cocaine.
They are but two of 104 fugitives arrested over a two-week period by a task force led by U.S. Marshals in Baltimore.
“We’ve made 14 arrests for homicide or attempted homicide, 15 arrests for robbery and 28 arrests for firearm-related offenses, and over 200 open warrants were closed during the operation,” announced Gov. Larry Hogan.
On its face, making a hundred arrests may not seem like that much with all of the violence in the city, but task force members say it can make a difference.
John Cook is with the federal program targeting high intensity drug trafficking areas or HIDTA.
“Two years ago, a similar operation resulted in many days or weeks without a homicide,” said Cook, “and the correlation exists and appears to be evidence-based.”
The impact also depends on whether the suspects are convicted and receive sentences that will keep them off the streets.
“Well, we made sure we did our job. We picked them up. We arrested them,” said Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison. "Now, we have to make sure we put together good criminal cases that will make it all of the way through the criminal justice system. I can only speak on behalf of law enforcement.”
