South Carolina Fugitive Arrested in Savannah


Savannah, GA - A man wanted by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Department in Charleston, South Carolina was arrested by the United States Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Savannah Chatham Metro Police Department on May 4, 2010.

Kendrick Coakley, 28, was wanted by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Department for failure to appear on Possession of Marijuana charges and Carrying a Pistol charge. The warrants were issued in Charleston, South Carolina in July of 2006. The case was referred to the U.S. Marshals Operation Intercept Task Force Charleston Division on April 26, 2010. Operation Intercept is the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in South Carolina. Operation Intercept worked numerous leads in the Charleston, South Carolina area and when they determined that Coakley could be in the Savannah, Georgia area, they referred the case to the Savannah Office of the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force. A possible address was generated by the task force. Surveillance was conducted at the residence. On May 4, 2010, members of the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force along with Savannah Chatham Metro Police Officers went to the address of 2212 Alaska Avenue in Savannah, Georgia and found Coakley hiding in a bedroom in the dark. Upon arrival at the residence, while waiting for someone to open the front door, task force members saw through a window, a male matching Coakley’s description get up from the couch in the front room and walk into the front bedroom and turn off the light. A female opened the door and allowed officers into the residence. When questioned as to whether Coakley was in the residence, the female neither confirmed nor denied his presence. Since a male was seen walking out of the room into the front bedroom and the light went off, task force officers checked the bedroom and found Coakley and another male in the room with the light off. Coakley was arrested without incident and transported to the Chatham County Jail to await extradition proceedings back to South Carolina.

Annually, investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the apprehension of over 36, 000 federal fugitives. More federal fugitives are arrested by the Marshals Service than all other federal agencies combined.

The Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force has three offices: Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah. The task force covers the whole state of Georgia. The Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force is a team comprised of investigators from the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department, the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department and the United States Marshals Service. The task force objective is to seek out and arrest fugitives charged with violent crimes, drug crimes, sex offenders, and other felonies. In 2009, U.S. Marshals led task forces arrested more than 90,000 state and local fugitives on felony charges.