Operation Clean Sweep Nabs 24 Wanted Persons

More than three dozen police officers and sheriff deputies fanned out through Lower Bucks County early Monday morning during a large scale warrant sweep.

Police go over warrants before Operation Clean Sweep began early Monday morning. Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com — Police go over warrants before Operation Clean Sweep began early Monday morning.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com

Operation Clean Sweep, as Monday’s mission was known, netted 24 people on a variety of different warrants. In total, police set out with 110 wanted persons on their list. The approximate 20 percent capture rate is what was expected.

Police said the subjects they were after were wanted for a mix of both county and local warrants. Chief Deputy Sheriff Dennis Shook said 18 of the warrants were court warrants and six were domestic related. The six people rounded up for domestic issues owed $75,000 in mainly child support, Shook said.

Law enforcement officials that were part of the sweep visited addresses in Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Falls, Lower Makefield, Middletown, Morrisville, Penndel and Yardley.

Police leadership briefed roughly 40 law enforcement members from the Bucks County Sheriff’s Department, Falls Township, Lower Makefield and Morrisville townships around 5 a.m. Monday. The warrant sweep leaders set up smaller teams to look for stacks of offenders. Staff from the Bucks County 9-1-1 Center and the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad also sat in on the briefing.

Falls Lt. Hank Ward warned operation personnel to stay safe and be aware some of the wanted may try to “beat feet” by running.

“There is a lot of runners on this warrant sweep, ” Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Joe Raffery said at the briefing.

LevittownNow.com was afforded the opportunity to ride along on the sweep with Falls Township Team One. The team, which was one of several spread throughout the area during the operation, consisted of Sgt. Ray Fanelli, Officer Matthew Killeen, Sheriff Deputy Joseph Renson and several other deputies and officers who rotated in and out.

Team One gathered behind the Falls Township Municipal Building in the balmy rain shortly after 5:10 a.m. Fanelli talked with officers from another team before briefing his own team.

“Lets go,” Fanelli said, walking toward the township’s Tactical Response Unit utility truck.

From there, the team met again at a temporary command post set up in a parking lot at the corner of West Trenton Road and Lincoln Highway in the Morrisville section of Falls Township. Under an overhang, Fanelli briefed Team One on the operation and what they were tasked with doing.

The vehicles of Team One during a briefing. Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com — The vehicles of Team One during a briefing.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com

The first stop was the Commons at Fallsington apartments. Several law enforcers got out and went to the last known address of a woman wanted for skipping court dates. The couple that opened the door to the woman’s apartment were new tenants and authorities determined the woman they wanted no longer lived there.

At the next address it was a similar story.

Throughout the roughly three-hour-long operation, the mission-focused Fanelli worked with his teammates and communicated with the command post during the operation.

A man that Team One prepared to apprehend raised some concerns. Fanelli called for Lower Makefield investigators to meet Team One in the parking lot of a closed pharmacy to get more intel.

The Lower Makefield investigators warned the man Team One was about to try to apprehend may have a weapon and is a known gang member.

“If anyone would have a weapon, Arty (the suspect) would be the one,” one of the Lower Makefield investigators told Fanelli.

At the suspect’s apartment in Falls Township, Team One, aided by additional officers, quietly approached the bottom-floor unit as a steady rain fell outside. More officers looked in windows and checked the parking lot for the suspect’s car.

No luck. The apartment appeared empty and the wanted man’s car was not the parking lot.

Rain soaked police and sheriff deputies talk to residents of an apartment. The person they were looking for did not live in the apartment any more. Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com — Rain soaked police and sheriff deputies talk to residents of an apartment. The person they were looking for did not live in the apartment any more.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com

The team then walked a few buildings over and took another wanted person into custody. The man did not put up any struggle and was placed in the back of a sheriff’s van.

The detail continued from there. On the police radio you could heard numerous teams checking for wanted person. Some got their wanted subject, others did not.

Ward said police did not announce the address of the warrants over the open radio because they have had wanted persons in the past listen to the operation and avoid capture.

Team One continued past sunrise and snaked through the residential streets looking to capture more wanted persons. In one case, the man wanted on a criminal warrant had moved 10 years prior. In another, the person police were looking for had been kicked out by their mother.

The final wanted person Team One captured happened by chance. The man wanted on a DUI-related warrant walked out of his apartment to walk his dog and peacefully surrendered to police after he returned his dog.

As the operation wound down, Team One checked several more apartments but did not find anymore wanted persons.

Fanelli said he was content with the arrests made and leads gathered during the morning operation.

Officials said no police or suspects were injured. Shook said the only real problem came when a fleeing person tried to hide in an attic. After a K-9 unit arrived, the wanted person was taken into custody.

Shook said more warrant sweeps can be expected. Officials already planning one that will target wanted person’s out of Bristol, Bristol Township and Tullytown.

“Offenders can run but they can not hide and will eventually be caught,” Lower Makefield Chief Kenneth Coluzzi said.

If you have information on a wanted subject, you are asked to call the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office at 215-348-6286.

The Bucks County Sheriff’s Department released a list people they arrested on county warrants: