Over 150 fugitives wanted for 'most serious, violent' crimes captured in Chicago area

CHICAGO - It's no surprise Chicago made the list when the Justice Department picked cities with high levels of shootings and killings to target dangerous criminals.

"The Justice Department is committed to doing everything we can to protect communities from violent crime," said John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, plus additional law enforcement partners, announced Thursday the results of "Operation North Star" — a month long, high-impact initiative that teamed up federal, state and local forces to get the most violent criminals off the streets.

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"Operation North Star was concentrated on fugitives wanted for the most violent and harmful offenses, such as homicide, forcible sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault," said LaDon Reynolds, United States Marshal for the Northern District of Illinois.

In the Chicago area, law enforcement made 156 arrests. The effort at times was dangerous, as shown by an arrest in Chicago’s Belmont-Cragin neighborhood on June 2nd, where the suspect shot both a U.S. Marshall and his canine. In that arrest and others, the focus was on taking into custody those who've used guns before, since authorities say data shows they'll often use them again.

Over 1,500 fugitives wanted for ‘most serious, violent’ crimes captured across 10 US cities

"We do this all the time. The task force is always at work, but this initiative is to get it in advance in some of the summer months where we see an increase in crime, particularly violent crime," said Reynolds.

Operation North Star lasted 30 days in 10 cities. Nationwide, there were more than 1,500 arrests, including 230 people wanted for homicide and more than 160 guns seized.

The U.S. Marshals Service initiative resulted in arrests in Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., officials said.