Liberal Free Chat Zone

[trkyhntr]

Eric Frein surrendered to U.S. marshals, did not put up a fight, state police said




http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/10/eric_frein_capture.html#incart_big-LORDS VALLEY — U.S. marshals took an unarmed Eric Frein by surprise when they spotted him in the middle of an open field at a shuttered airport, ending a dramatic seven-week manhunt in northeast Pennsylvania.
He did not say anything when he was captured.
He did not put up a fight.
Now that the search has ended, the legal work begins.
The charges against Frein include first-degree murder and homicide of a law enforcement agent, said Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin on Thursday, more than five hours after Frein was captured.
Joined by law enforcement officials and Gov. Tom Corbett, Tonkin announced that he will seek the death penalty.
Frein, 31, has been charged in connection with the Sept. 12 homicide in which police say he fatally shot Cpl. Bryon Dickson and wounded Trooper Alex Douglass during a late night ambush at the Blooming Grove Township state police barracks.
For now, Frein's arraignment is expected to occur no later than the end of Friday, Tonkin said during the news conference at Pike County Training Center.
"Now it becomes time to find answers on behalf of the fallen officers' families," Tonkin said, adding that the families have suffered "an unimaginable horror of unspeakable proportion."
The U.S. Marshal Service agents were searching Birchwood-Pocono Airpark in Tannersville, where they discovered Frein and ordered him to surrender and get down on his knees, said Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan.
Frein, who was in "good physical condition," identified himself, and the agents used the handcuffs that belonged to Dickson when they arrested him, Noonan said. They also took him to the barracks in Dickson's police cruiser.
When a reporter asked about the apparent blood on Frein's nose, Noonan said it was from a scratch that had been there when he was arrested.
In thanking all the law enforcement agents who had assisted in the manhunt, Noonan said he couldn't "think of a more dangerous occupation than going into the woods" looking for this homicide suspect. He added that his biggest problem during the manhunt had been telling people he didn't need more help.
"I'm glad it ended without any other loss of life including his," Noonan said.
Gov. Corbett thanked the thousands of law enforcement agents from across state lines who assisted in the manhunt.
They have "given their heart and soul in the name of justice," Corbett said.
Within a week following the shooting, Frein was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, which allowed the FBI to use more resources in the manhunt, and Frein's picture was placed on billboards across the state.
Law enforcement officials followed several tips from officers and area residents, claiming potential sightings, but each yielded little result.
Search teams employed several techniques from infrared technology and blood and DNA analysis to an experimental balloon equipped with cameras on loan from the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Other search approaches were more typical, including the use of K-9 search units and officer patrols.
The extensive, weeks-long search effort caused an upset in the typically quiet, wood-dense rural area near his parents' Canadensis home in Pike County.
Police maintained confidence in their established search perimeters. At news conferences held periodically throughout the search, Lt. Col. George Bivens reassured media and the public that Frein remained within the search area near Barrett and Price townships in Monroe County.
Most recently, law enforcement officers were also stationed south of Canadensis in Paradise and Pocono townships.
Police and school districts took precautionary measures such as closing schools, limiting hunting areas and canceling Halloween trick-or-treating following potential sightings. 
Now, with Frein's capture, life in these rural communities can begin returning to some sense of normalcy.
Staff writer Megan Trimble contributed to this story.
/Article