New Jersey Convicted Sex Offender Fugitive Captured in Toa Alta

San Juan, PR – Recently, the U.S. Marshals Service led Puerto Rico Violent Offenders Task Force captured convicted sex offender fugitive Eduardo Cruz after an extensive investigation which included the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Cruz, who was arrested on the Toa Alta Road 825 in front of the Merced Marcano Elementary school without incident, is facing a federal criminal charge for failing to re-register as a convicted sex offender in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. During the investigation, it was identified that this fugitive also has outstanding arrest warrants for failing to comply with the New Jersey Parole Board “Sex Offender Monitoring Act,” by failing to comply with a Global Positioning System monitoring program as well as an arrest warrant from Pennsylvania for failure to register as a sex offender.

“Convicted Sex Offenders have conditions imposed as applicable upon sentence for which they must comply with. It is imperative to dedicate the efforts of law enforcement to continue to investigate and capture those that fail to comply with those conditions and travel to different states for the purpose of eluding the same,” said Orlando Rivera, U.S. Marshal for the District of Puerto Rico.

The U.S. Marshals Service has three key missions under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006: (1) to assist state, local, tribal and territorial authorities in the location and apprehension of noncompliant sex offenders, (2) to investigate violations of the criminal provisions of the Adam Walsh Act, and (3) to identify and locate displaced sex offenders resulting from a major disaster.