LORAIN — A Lorain man who has been on the run from U.S. Marshals for a year was arrested this week in North Carolina.
Leiva
Luis Leiva, 49, was picked up Monday in Raleigh, N.C., using a fake identity, according to Marshals.
Leiva was wanted for charges of domestic violence, violating a protection order, burglary and assault stemming from an April 2009 incident and was added to the U.S. Marshals’ “Dangerous Dozen” most wanted list.
Deputy Tony Keffer, U.S. Marshals Service task force coordinator for Lorain County, said Leiva was taken into custody without incident by Marshals and Raleigh law enforcement. He was booked in the Wake County Jail.
When arrested, Leiva thought he was being arrested for an immigration violation Keffer said. Keffer didn’t have information on Leiva’s citizenship status but said Leiva was born in Peru. If convicted of a felony, it’s likely he could be deported, Keffer said.
Leiva’s year on the Dangerous Dozen list is long and is due to the fact that he left the area and changed his identity, Keffer said.
Keffer attributed his arrest to “a lot of investigating” and “good work by the Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. Marshals.”
Following Leiva’s arrest, U.S. Marshals released their latest Dangerous Dozen list, which for the first time doesn’t contain any Lorain County criminals.
Keffer explained that while Marshals try to include wanted individuals from all areas the task force covers, there were more pressing needs elsewhere.
Four individuals are new to the list:
- Thomas Propst is a former corrections officer from Ashtabula County who is wanted for the murder of his wife.
- Derek Watson, from the Toledo area, is wanted for assault.
- Kennard Gay, from the Akron area, is wanted on two warrants for murder and attempted murder from two separate incidents that occurred over the last few months.
- Billy Farmer, from the Mansfield area, is wanted for sex offender registration violation.
View the entire Dangerous Dozen:
