Three men on the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive list were arrested last month, thanks to the concerted efforts of various North Texas law enforcement officers.
U.S. Marshals in the North Texas Fugitive Task Force captured Nehemiah Khalil Hicks, a 24-year-old gang member affiliated with the Fly Money Gang. He was apprehended in Dallas on May 22.
The Texas DPS Highway Patrol, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Mansfield Police Department, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, and the Texas Department of Justice – Office of the Inspector General assisted in investigating Hicks, who was wanted for over a dozen crimes.
Hicks was wanted for accusations of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault of a family/household member by impeding breath/circulation, terroristic threat against a public servant, evading arrest/detention with a vehicle, unlawful carrying of a weapon, unauthorized use of a vehicle, burglary of a vehicle, and resisting arrest.
Prior to his capture, Texas Crime Stoppers was offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest, and he was considered armed and dangerous. The reward was not dispersed because law enforcement did not receive a tip from the public that led to his capture.
Hicks has been wanted since the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for him in July of 2022. The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office also issued a warrant for him in January 2023.
Hicks was not the only Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive arrested recently.
Lubbock Police arrested 62-year-old David Earl Thomas on May 17 for failing to register as a sex offender.
Thomas has a multi-decade rap sheet stretching back to the mid-1980s when he was first arrested on two counts of burglary of a habitation with the intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually. He was arrested again in the early 1990s for theft and again for robbery in 2002. Thomas was released in 2017 before the latest warrant was issued.
U.S. Marshals from the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force also arrested 35-year-old Kentrell Lamar Fletcher, who was wanted for violating his 2020 parole.
Fletcher was first arrested in 2008 for burglary of a habitation and again in 2010 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has a known gang affiliation with the Gangster Disciples. He was apprehended on May 25 in Killeen.
In the city of Dallas, violent crime continues unabated. During the first four months of this year, 95 murders were reported. That marks a 23.4% jump from the same period last year, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. More recent data is unavailable, allegedly due to a ransomware attack against the City.
Dallas police have struggled to combat violent crimes such as murder amid a shortage of officers. Presently employing 3,100 officers, the Dallas Police Department still needs to add another 400-500, according to Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association.
As Dallas Executive Assistant Chief David Pughes noted to NBC DFW, “there is a direct correlation between the number of officers you have and the ability to control violent crime.”
