US Marshals Service national operation includes 163 Arkansas arrests, DeValls Bluff shootout

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A national operation by the U.S. Marshalls Service targeting violent crime included Little Rock as one of its 10 metropolitan areas where arrests occurred.

Officials said at a Friday news conference the multi-state Operation North Star FY 2024 resulted in 163 fugitive arrests in the Little Rock area. Of that group, 17 are facing homicide charges, 16 for forcible sexual assault, 19 for robbery, 35 for aggravated assault and 50 for firearms violations. The nationwide operation took place between May 10 and Sept. 13.

Representatives of the service said the national operation arrested a total of 3,421 violent fugitives, including 216 for homicide, 803 for assault and 482 for weapon offenses.

Officials added that 38 firearms, 1.92 kilograms of illegal narcotics and $72,000 in U.S. currency were seized in Arkansas during the operation. Nationally, 534 guns were seized, along with more than $508,000 in U.S. currency and 456 kilograms of illegal narcotics, including 138 pounds and over 550,000 pills of fentanyl

A Marshals representative said one significant arrest during the operation was that of 32-year-old Darrell Lawayne Esau II, who was shot and killed by law enforcement during a four-hour standoff at a DeValls Bluff mobile home. Investigators said they later determined Esau had fired approximately 200 rounds at law enforcement during the July 24 standoff, some from an automatic weapon.

Officials said Esau was wanted as a fugitive with multiple violent felony warrants from Little Rock, Sherwood and Pulaski County. He was also wanted by the Arkansas Division of Community Corrections as an absconder and faced charges including multiple counts of first-degree battery, terroristic acts, possession of firearms by certain persons, aggravated residential burglary and domestic battery, alongside a previous homicide conviction.

Data from the National Crime Information Center and the FBI Uniform Crime Report were used to select the metropolitan areas, according to a statement from the Marshalls Service. The 10 metropolitan areas selected for the operation were Dallas Fort Worth; Charleston and North Charleston, South Carolina; Baton Rouge; Little Rock; Phoenix; St. Louis (to include East St. Louis, Illinois); Birmingham, Alabama; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Dayton, Ohio; and San Antonio.

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