USCG Aids in Arrest of Murder Suspect on Gulf Oil Spill Barge
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Great work by the USMS and involved USCG units in locating and arresting this violent criminal. I’m sure it was no easy task to track him from east Texas to a barge off Mississippi.
When given the option of making an arrest at sea or on shore, often agencies are reluctant to take on the additional effort of securing transportation to a suspect’s position on a vessel and are especially wary of the possibility the boat may move and become difficult to track or even locate. Weighing these issues against the benefits of an at sea arrest, specifically that it would be made immediately in the confines of a boat with no room to run, were likely made easier as the vessel was probably being tracked in near real time by the Unified Command. |
A man wanted for a Texas slaying was arrested Monday on an oil spill cleanup barge about 15 miles from Pascagoula, Mississippi, just south of Petit Bois Island, authorities said. Justin Vickers, supervisory inspector with the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force in Gulfport, said his detectives and the U.S. Coast Guard in Pascagoula arrested Lorenzo Sam, 31, late Monday night.
“Detectives developed information suggesting that Sam had obtained a job with a temporary staffing service in Louisiana and was transported to a barge located near Pascagoula,” Vickers said. “The barge is assisting in oil spill cleanup efforts on Petit Bois Island.”
According to reports in Texas, Sam is the prime suspect in the slaying of his former employer Leesa Nascimento, a flower shop owner in Sugar Land, Texas.
Deputies found the body of the 49-year-old Nascimento on Friday morning in a Fort Bend County lake, the reports said. Reports said that a Texas medical examiner’s office determined that Nascimento died from an apparent gunshot wound. Her family reported her missing July 7, when she did not arrive to work at Occasions by Cindy, the floral business that Nascimento owned. Fort Bend County Court Judge Susan Lowery reportedly set bond for Sam at $1 million.Vickers said that Texas investigators believe Sam shot and killed Nascimento, then stole her vehicle and fled to Louisiana, where he found a job. Authorities said they found her car in car found in Binville Parish, La., over the weekend.
“Detectives from Fort Bend County contacted us and requested assistance in arresting the suspect,” Vickers said. “After consulting with several contractors, subcontractors, and the Coast Guard, it was determined that the safest way to arrest the suspect would be on the barge.”The Coast Guard transported the task force members on a 41-foot boat and also provided a five-man vessel boarding team on a 25-foot rigid inflatable boat for additional security, Vickers said.
Sam was in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center on Tuesday afternoon charged with murder, and was awaiting extradition to Texas, Vickers said.
