Though dozens of police officers were on the lookout for Cordell Broadus last month in the death of a former star high school football star, his capture came down to a single telephone call.
An 11:30 p.m. call to the Greater Pittsburgh Fugitive Task Force hot line led authorities to the Penn Hills home of Broadus' aunt.
Throughout western Pennsylvania, there are more than 200 people like Broadus, identified as the region's most dangerous and elusive felony suspects.
Pittsburgh helped pioneer an approach that now is common in other major cities: forming a group made up of several police agencies to search for fugitives. The eight-man Fugitive Task Force, overseen by the FBI, searches for suspects wanted for homicides, assaults, rapes and drug sales. They catch more than 100 people every year.
And like Broadus' case, cooperation from the public often makes the difference between capture and escape, police say.
'We really can't do it without cooperation from the community that has actually been victimized by these people,' said Pittsburgh police Detective Kevin Wilkes, who has been on the task force since November.
COORDINATED EFFORT
Today, more than 50 metropolitan areas in the country use multi-agency task forces like the one in Pittsburgh.
Cooperation among agencies is critical to catching criminals in an area like western Pennsylvania, where there are hundreds of police departments, one criminal justice expert said. Assisting the law Anyone with information on the fugitives should call the Greater Pittsburgh Fugitive Task Force at (412) 422-4722.
Still on the loose
Despite efforts of the Fugitive Task Force, some fugitives remain on the loose for years:
'When you can bring several jurisdictions together, you get information that one department can't get on its own,' said Boyd Messinger, chairman of the criminal justice department at La Roche College in McCandless.
'You're also more removed from the daily press of new crimes occurring, so the task force can concentrate on finding just these fugitives,' he said.
When FBI Special Agent Larry Likar formed Pittsburgh's group in 1989, there were only two other similar groups in the United States.
'There was a series of fugitives that nobody could catch because everyone was looking independently for them,' said Likar, who retired last week after 23 years in the bureau.
In Allegheny County, there are more than 120 law enforcement agencies, each with its own boundaries. Add to that 26 western counties, and the proximity to West Virginia, New York, Maryland and Ohio, and fugitives had an easy time hiding from police, Likar said.
So Likar brought together the Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and state police, the county Sheriff's office, the FBI and the U.S. Marshal's service to form the group.
The task force targets fugitives wanted for violent crimes whose arrest warrants are at least 30 days old.
'A cop's going to want to catch their guy first,' Likar said. 'But they get other cases and suspects cross lines, so we can devote all our time to finding them.'
Through the FBI, the local task force can seek help from units in other states. When a fugitive is located in another city, the task force can have authorities in that area pick up the suspect.
That's how Matthew Holiday, 25, of Verona, was arrested this month in Panama City, Fla. Holiday is charged with breaking into the homes of two Wilkinsburg women and raping them in 1996 and '97.
Last month, the group also arrested two men charged with homicides in Pittsburgh but hiding elsewhere: Demetrius Murrell and Cordell Broadus.
Holiday, Murrell and Broadus surrendered without a fight when police showed up at their respective hideouts.
In all three cases, officials said, two factors came together: telephone tips and quick, but subtle, action.
HIDING OUT
In addition to tips from the public, capturing people who will go to great lengths to remain free takes cunning detective work and a little bit of luck.
'These guys don't want to go to jail,' Wilkes said. 'A lot of those who are wanted for the high-profile homicides and serious assaults, they tend to leave the area.'
The ones that don't leave find places to hide. After 12 years on the task force, John Vercelli knows the good hiding spots: such as in crawl spaces or between a mattress and box spring.
'The new one is removing the center piece from a sleeper sofa and hiding in the couch,' said Vercelli, a detective with the Allegheny County Sheriff's office.
Wilkes remembers one fugitive who hid inside a dresser.
'We kept getting tips (a fugitive) was in a house in Homestead. We went there five or six times and could never find him. Finally we found him, in the bottom drawer with the clothes.'
Fancy technology and police training aside, the key to finding suspects can come down to working sources in the community who know where someone hangs out, experts say.
'You need to talk to the people who travel in circles we, as law enforcement, do not,' Vercelli said.
Much of the group's work is undercover.
They rely heavily on cooperation from residents - but an us-against-them attitude often makes people hesitant to volunteer information.
'The biggest challenge is getting community support to catch people who have actually victimized the community,' Wilkes said.
TASK FORCE HAS HELP
Technology also has helped the task force's cause.
The FBI can track credit cards and be alerted as soon as the card is swiped through an electronic reader - thus pinpointing the user's location.
Often, though, catching the bad guys comes down to luck, Vercelli said.
Much of the information comes from anonymous tips. The task force and other agencies offer cash rewards and do weekly spots on the television news to coax the public to help.
That's what helped in the Broadus case. Broadus, 19, is charged with the June 25 fatal shooting of Robert Dixon, 22, of Pittsburgh's Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood. Police had been searching for him for a month.
Though they rushed to the area where Broadus was last seen, the hurrying stopped as soon as they were close to the house.
'We try to be as covert as possible,' Wilkes said. 'The crouching tiger, hidden dragon approach, instead of slamming the brakes on the car, jumping out and charging through the door.'
Likar said the task force members are trained in using what he calls 'ruses' to snare the hunted.
He recalls a time the task force dressed as workers from the electric company, with uniforms, hard hats and ID badges. They told the occupants of the house that there was an electrical hazard and they needed to evacuate, Likar said.
'When the guy we were looking for came out, he knew he'd been had,' Likar said. 'He said, 'This is the first time I've been arrested by the electric company police.''
David Conti can be reached at dconti@tribweb.com or (412) 441-0976.
Archive
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Thursday, April 2, 2026
