LV: No place to hide

Jace Radke

Sunday, Oct. 17, 1999 | 10:16 a.m.

Strip showrooms have long packed in tourists with magic acts, and now Las Vegas is becoming a haven for another kind of vanishing act -- fugitives looking for the perfect place to disappear.

But that might be an illusion.

This year, the Las Vegas Criminal Apprehension Team has arrested 677 violent offenders, the most such fugitive arrests of any city in the country.

Criminals wanted for the crimes of rape, murder and drug trafficking are finding Las Vegas attractive for the same reasons that draw 30 million tourists a year to Sin City.

"When you look at Las Vegas it has become the entertainment capital of the world and that appeals to everyone," U.S. Marshal Jose Troncoso said. "Fugitives are still people and they like to go to the casinos or boxing matches like anyone else.

"It's the same thing in New York and the other big cities. People want to go there, including fugitives."

Detroit is second nationally with 458 violent offender arrests, and Washington, D.C., has 438 arrests, according to FBI statistics. Other cities near the top of the list include Baltimore (394 arrests), Los Angeles (382) and Philadelphia (327).

It's not just glitter that is attracting fugitives to Las Vegas, according to Metro Police Sgt. Al Cervantes, head of Southern Nevada's multijurisdictional Criminal Apprehension Team.

"They come to Las Vegas trying to start over or lay low for awhile," Cervantes said. "There is a lot of money flowing through Las Vegas, a lot of job opportunities, a transient population to get lost in and a great climate.

"Put those factors together and Las Vegas becomes a pretty good place to disappear."

The Criminal Apprehension Team, or CATS, includes representatives from Metro, Henderson and North Las Vegas police forces, FBI agents and U.S. Marshals. The agencies pool their resources in unearthing fugitives who think they can get a second chance in Las Vegas.

"Las Vegas is different from any other city because there is still that come-here-and-get-rich illusion," said Sgt. Shane Robb of Metro's fugitive detail. "People think they can get lost here and blend into the woodwork."

In addition to the violent offenders that the nine-member CATS team has apprehended, Metro has arrested more than 1,030 other fugitives this year. Last year patrol officers came across 1,679 fugitives.

"We handle most of the fugitives wanted for property and paper crime," Robb said. "We pass along the violent offenders and deadbeat parents to CATS."

Federally wanted fugitives fall into the jurisdiction of the U.S. Marshals Service, but with the addition of a deputy marshal to the CATS team two months ago both organizations are working closer together.

The fact that Las Vegas is known the world over means that fugitives from foreign countries may also be looking at Las Vegas as a good bet to escape notice, Troncoso said.

"Marshals also handle cases from foreign governments who believe someone they are looking for is in the United States," Troncoso said. "Las Vegas is open seven days a week and has a 24-hour airport with international flights."

Since its inception in 1992 CATS has made more than 4,700 arrests without an officer or fugitive being killed, but catching fugitives is getting more dangerous.

"States are adopting a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy, so some of these people have nothing to lose," Cervantes said. "In the last three years we've had more fights than we've ever had. There are a lot of people out there who want to commit suicide by cop."

When authorities burst into an apartment or hotel room looking for a wanted suspect, a split second can mean the difference between a peaceful arrest and a shootout.

"We had an arrest at the Ambassador Inn on Fremont Street where we went in at about 11 p.m. hoping the suspect would be asleep," Cervantes said. "As we went in the suspect was reaching for a rifle under the bed and the woman he was with was going for a gun in the night stand."

Fugitives can be broken down into two groups, and both are prevalent in Las Vegas, according to Robb and Cervantes.

"Of course there are the ones who come to Las Vegas and are still looking to commit crimes, but there are also those who try to go legitimate when they get here," Cervantes said. "We've had fugitives get married and settle down to start families.

"Their spouses don't know that they've married someone we're looking for."

Grant Warren Beaucage was well on his way to a second chance when he moved to Las Vegas two years ago.

Beaucage, who was wanted in Canada in connection with the 1994 stabbing of his wife, had that chance taken away last month when he was arrested after grabbing a bite to eat at the Stardust hotel-casino.

The cashier at the restaurant recognized Beaucage from a recent Reader's Digest article profiling some of the country's most wanted fugitives.

"We generate our own leads and get tips from other jurisdictions, but the majority of our arrests come through the public," Cervantes said. " 'America's Most Wanted,' 'Unsolved Mysteries' and articles in publications like Reader's Digest really help in giving the public an idea of who we're looking for."

Fugitives are frequently turned in by people they have come to trust.

"Family members call with tips because these fugitives are stealing from them or beating them up," Cervantes said. "This is especially true of parents, because they'll only take so much grief.

"Some people are just good Samaritans, and others call because they want a reward. It doesn't matter to us."

The CATS team employs surveillance and guile as it tries to make tips pay off by taking fugitives by surprise.

"We use a lot of trickery and deceit, and we look at psychological profiles," Cervantes said. "We go undercover, and if these people are vulnerable to drugs or women, that's what we use. We try to pick the time and place we make an arrest."

Fugitives can be taken into custody anywhere, but are often picked up in either casinos or weekly rental apartment and hotel rooms, Robb said.

Timothy Blackburn, an escaped suspect in a Las Vegas bank robbery, was located by CATS personnel in a Boulder Highway weekly rental motel room Aug. 29.

"When you think about it many of the cheap motels and weekly rentals are by their nature fly-by-night operations, and that's attractive to people who may have to move on fast," Robb said.

Blackburn was shot and killed by Metro SWAT officers after he gunned down his two daughters and wife after he refused to surrender to police.

Tragedies such as the Blackburn incident are still the exception, not the rule, when fugitives are apprehended, Cervantes said.

"People do a lot of stupid things when they know we're on to them," Cervantes said. "We've found people hiding in doghouses, in dryers and we caught one guy because he had to have a smoke.

"He was hiding in a closet and he got so nervous he lit a cigarette and there was a cloud of smoke coming out of the closet."