Pocono News Section

Operation HEART Rounds Up Fugitives

Operation HEART Rounds Up Fugitives - Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 6:20PM EST

Reported by: Mark Hiller
Saturday, Feb 13, 2010 @ 06:20pm EST
WEST WYOMING, LUZERNE COUNTY - It's one of the biggest criminal roundups of its kind. The Luzerne County Sheriff's Department began taking the first of about two dozen wanted fugitives into custody Saturday.

Deputies brought them to the West Wyoming borough building where they held a news conference. The arrests are the result of teamwork between the sheriff's office and nearly a dozen Luzerne County police departments.

Handcuffed and on display, the wanted fugitives were among more than a dozen people taken into custody by
mid-Saturday afternoon. They're all accused of skipping court hearings for an assortment of crimes including assault, DUI and writing bad checks.

The Luzerne County Sheriff's Department tracked down the suspects with the help of other police departments in the county. "We contacted them and asked if we could be of assistance to them in rounding up some of their bad people," Luzerne County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Charles Guarnieri.

This Valentine's weekend sweep is called Operation HEART -- an acronym that stands for Helping Enforce All Residences and Towns. The sheriff's department worked closely with about a dozen police departments including Pittston, Avoca and Wyoming.

"And they may have more information that we could ever dig up on these individuals and that's what is so great about working together," said Luzerne County Sheriff's Department Deputy Jennifer Roberts. "We're all working towards a common goal and that's to apprehend all wanted fugitives."

Among the fugitives -- 25-year-old Michael Rubino of Pittston. Police say he tried ramming a Wilkes-Barre Townshp police cruiser in December after officers tried to arrest him for shoplifting. Rubino was also wanted for numerous traffic offenses.

Now he and the others are in custody thanks to the third such sweep in as many months. "This is something we're doing a lot more of because of the amount of warrants that we're getting from the court system," said Deputy Roberts. "And the more arrests that we make, the safer the streets are in Luzerne County."

Chief Deputy Guarnieri says stay tuned. More sweeps are yet to come. "We're going to continue to move forward. So, let's just hope they're not home watching TV."

The Luzerne County Sheriff's Department had 15 fugitives in custody at the time of the news conference without about a dozen more left to apprehend. Two of the fugitives were wanted in New York state and Indiana.