Fugitive Caught Near Rail Yards

A fugitive who was to be profiled on a national television show was arrested early Thursday morning by Spokane police.

Robert Harris, 54, was arrested as a wanted fugitive at 5:30 a.m. after Burlington Northern security guards caught him on railroad property near Havana and Broadway and called police, said Dick Cottam, police department spokesman.

Harris’ story was set to be broadcast this fall on “America’s Most Wanted” after members of a San Diego law enforcement task force, which includes the U.S. Marshal’s office and the FBI, submitted the case to the show.

“There’s really no set criteria,” said FBI Special Agent Jan Caldwell. “If we don’t have leads to a case, we use (America’s Most Wanted) to give us some.”

Caldwell said the task force knew Harris was in the area. Harris, who is legally blind, was reportedly stopped in Ritzville on May 4, 1994, for driving without a license.

Spokane police arrested Harris after a records check revealed he was wanted in El Cajon, Calif., a San Diego suburb, for making terrorist threats.

According to FBI records, Harris was a parolee who was on the run after being convicted of molesting his three daughters - ages 13, 15 and 18. After the conviction, Caldwell said Harris threatened the judge, prosecutor and two social workers who helped convict him. He became a fugitive on May 1, 1994, when he failed to report to his parole officer.

, DataTimes