Deputy US Marshal Second All-Star Finalist

The voting heated up during the second week of the 2007 AMW All-Star Awards. Voting was fast and furious, but one first responder emerged victorious: Deputy US Marshal Manny Puri is the second of eight weekly finalists.

Nominated by one of his colleagues, Puri has earned the respect of the public and fellow officers as a dedicated professional with a relentless passion for getting bad guys off the streets.  Puri is a member of the New Jersey/New York Regional Fugitive Task Force, an elite unit of local and federal law enforcement officers who hunt down some of the most dangerous criminals in America -- the worst of the worst.

An AMW Veteran

If Puri's name is familiar, it is because this Deputy US Marshall has been at the center of more than a few high profile cases featured on AMW.  He and his partner were called in to set up a perimeter watch when escaped convict Bucky Phillips was seen in a field in Pennsylvania.  Upon spotting Phillips, who murdered a New York State Trooper and wounded two other officers, Puri closed in, narrowing the perimeter. Sensing the situation was futile, the suspect surrendered.

He is also hot on the trail of George Saravanos, wanted for killing a New York Corrections Officer in December of 2004. Puri's commitment to catching Saravanos has not waned. Last March, he spotted Sarvanos on an Atlantic City casino surveillance video, gambling with his father. Puri wasted no time in tightening the net around this bad guy. He promptly arrested Saravanos' father for harboring a fugitive. Saravanos' days of freedom are surely numbered with Deputy US Marshal Puri on his trail.

"He's 100 percent devoted to the mission of catching bad guys and he's successful at it," says the colleague who nominated him.

Deputy US Marshal Puri will be featured on the March 10th episode of AMW at 9/8 Central on FOX.