Some wanted criminals do seem to get comfortable within the system. The murder suspect, who was arrested after a police computer check, was complying with a municipal court order in a misdemeanor case when he was nabbed. Even when fugitives are picked up by police on another charge, they are not always made to face the original offense. When someone who has jumped bond is found outside Ohio, a number of factors are considered in determining whether to bring him back, according to Thomas J. Sammon, a supervising assistant county prosecutor in charge of extraditions. Those include the person's criminal history, the seriousness of the offense and the cost of transporting the person.
Police say they make every effort to retrieve wanted suspects but the effort can only go so far.
Knocking on doors Some departments, including Strongsville and North Royalton, periodically run warrant details to round up fugitives, but most do not have a continuing program. The exception is Parma Heights, which for the last two years has had a unit that does nothing but serve warrants. In the first 10 months of this year, the two-man detail has served 383 people, clearing 465 warrants. Hill said the unit was started because Parma Heights, which collects its own income tax, had no way to track down those who owed the city tax money. Hill said that even though failure to pay income tax is a crime, it is not eligible to be placed in the Law Enforcement Automated Data System computers and, therefore, would not show up when a police officer checks for warrants.