Fugitive nearly evades police using disguise
Officers in awe of ‘Hollywood quality’ mask
• Shaun “Shizz” Miller was desperate.
Police had surrounded his residence in South Yarmouth, Mass., and were demanding that the alleged drug trafficker — a fugitive for months — come outside.
Miller did exactly that, but not before slipping on a wrinkled, liverspotted mask that added about a half-century to the 30-year-old’s face.
It was a criminal Hail Mary, to be sure, and it worked — for a time.
“Upon further investigation, officers determined that the ‘elderly man’ was in fact Miller, and at that point, officers pulled off Miller’s realistic disguise and placed him under arrest,” a statement released by U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said.
Miller may have been caught, but his strategy seemed to impress the arresting officers.
“It was Hollywood quality,” Barnstable police Lt. Mark Mellyn said, referring to the mask. “It was unbelievable.”
In April, Miller was charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, the statement said.
Miller had eluded police since that month.
Authorities said they had been watching the home of Miller’s mother for some time before finally surrounding it after confirming that a man spotted at the home was, in fact, Miller.
When officers ordered the occupants of the home outside, Miller — disguised as an elderly man — exited the front door “relatively quickly” while his mother exited the back of the home.
Mellyn told the paper that Miller began talking to officers immediately. The alleged senior citizen had been taken into custody to be debriefed when officers became suspicious, Mellyn said. The old man had $10,000 on him and there was something strange about his eyes.
“He was probably expecting us to move him outside the danger zone,” Mellyn said, noting that Miller would’ve used that opportunity to escape.