Cops have tracked Derrick Yancey, a former sheriff's deputy now accused of killing his wife and another man, to a bar in Punta Gorda, Belize and arrested him on the spot, federal law enforcement officials have said.
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Accused double murderer Derrick Yancey is spotted, on video, at a Greyhound bus station in downtown Atlanta. Investigators say the former DeKalb County, Ga. Sheriff's Deputy bought a ticket to Los Angeles, and boarded a bus, just hours after he fled house arrest on April 4.
The video shows Yancey arriving at the bus station, in what appears to be a taxi. Yancey waits in line to buy a non-refundable bus ticket to California. He also purchases a pillow, and waits in the bus depot for a couple of hours before his bus departs.
Investigators do not know if Yancey traveled all the way to his final destination. The Greyhound video shows Yancey boarding bus #1545, headed for Dallas at 10 a.m., from Gate #2.
Cops have tracked Yancey all the way to a bus station in Phoenix, Ariz., but that's where they lose track of the fugitive. They say he may have gotten off of the bus in one of six cities and towns between Phoenix and L.A. Those towns are: Quartzsite, Ariz.; Indio, Calif.; San Bernardino, Calif.; Riverside, Calif.; Claremonth, Calif.; and El Monte, Calif..
Derrick Yancey was a deputy with the DeKalb County, Ga. Sheriff’s Department when, in August 2008, he called a shocking report into his own department: Yancey said that he had been involved in a shooting at his Stone Mountain home.
Yancey told colleagues that he had shot and killed 20-year-old day laborer Marcial Cax Puluc in self defense after discovering that Puluc had robbed, shot and killed Yancey’s 46-year-old wife, Linda.
But forensic evidence was not on Yancey’s side: police say ballistic tests show Yancey was responsible for both murders.
Yancey was charged with two counts of murder, and released on $150,000 bond awaiting trial under the condition that he be confined to house arrest. But Yancey did not comply with the conditions of his bond. He escaped house arrest from his mother’s Jonesboro, Ga. home on the morning of April 4.
Police say Yancey cut off his electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, and fled the house.
Authorities say that Yancey had a lot of time to run before police started on his trail: according to cops working the case, the private probation company in charge of his case did not notify police of his escape until 11 hours after it was notified by the monitoring device.
Police consider Yancey armed and dangerous. Yancey’s attorney, Keith Adams, objects to that description.
“There’s no indication that he’s armed and dangerous to anyone, other than himself,” Adams says.
According to Adams, Yancey was depressed and despondent over the past few weeks. He could not explain why Yancey would run.
“He complied with the conditions of pretrial release for the first few months,” Adams says. “There is nothing that had changed about the case. We had received the evidence. The case hadn’t taken a turn for the worse. We were comfortable.”
Police believe Yancey could have headed to California but he also could have fled all the way to Detroit, where he has relatives. They’ve notified authorities there, and on the Canadian border to be on the lookout. They fear Yancey may try to leave the country.
Linda Yancey’s family says this development shows Yancey should have never been released on bond. They currently have custody of the couple’s 9-year-old son. The Yanceys have another son, who is 19 years old.
Special agents with the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and U.S. Marshals have tracked former police officer Derrick Yancey, now wanted for murder, to a local bar in Punta Gorda, Belize.
On Sept. 17, 2009, DSS agents acted on a lead handed down from U.S. Marshals and the Dekalb County Sheriff's Office that Yancey was hiding out in Belize.
Less than 60 hours later, agents confirmed the tip and found Yancey's home in Punta Gorda.
On Sept. 19, 2009, U.S. and Belizean law enforcement staked out Yancey's neighborhood and waited for him to show up.
When he surfaced in a local bar, an agent tapped Yancey on the shoulder and said, "It's time to go." Belizean authorities arrested him on the spot.
Cops say though Yancey was surprised and shocked to be captured, he said he was relieved and ready to go home.
He will return to the U.S. to face trial.
Yancey was an officer with the Dekalb County, Ga. Sheriff's Office when he was charged with two counts of murder. The victims were his wife and another man.
Yancey was out on bond and under house arrest when he escaped and ran on April 4, 2009.