West Seneca Police say a fugitive from Indiana was caught Tuesday bringing a carnival ride to the Erie County Fair.
An officer pulled over a Ford F-350 that was pulling a trailer with a children's carnival ride on the I-90 westbound. The officer says he pulled over the vehicle because it had a cracked windshield and the passenger was not wearing a safety belt.
According to West Seneca Police, the driver stated he was on his way to the Erie County Fairgrounds but could not produce a driver's license. They say he only had a carnival company ride operator ID with the name "James Davis".
The vehicle was sent to an off-site Department of Transportation inspection station where police say the driver provided a false date of birth.
Police say, after further investigation, they revealed the driver's identity to be 48-year-old Michael Wayne Gordon, from Kokomo, Indiana.
Police then discovered Gordon had extraditable warrants in Indiana for two Level 1 felony counts of child molesting and a Level 5 count of failure to register as a sex offender.
Gordon was then taken into custody and cited for several commercial vehicle violations and taken to the Erie County Holding Center to await extradition.
Police also shared records for Gordon, stating he was convicted of child molesting in Indiana in 1994. Four years later, he was convicted again of child molesting and required to register as a sex offender. Then in 2004, he was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender.
Court records in Miami County, Indiana show another child molesting case was filed in 2021. Gordon allegedly never appeared for his hearing in 2023 leading to a judge issuing a warrant for his arrest.
7 News reached out to the Erie County Fair who then directed us to Strates Shows.
Strates Shows told 7 News that Gordon does not work for them or the Erie County Fair, he is not a ride operator, just an independent driver dropping off equipment.
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