Manhunt for N.H. bank robber ends in Pennsylvania
The three-day manhunt for a fugitive New Hampshire bank robber with face tattoos came to an end yesterday when he was nabbed in Pennsylvania, officials said.
U.S. Marshals launched the search for Eric Judkins, 42, after he failed to return on Monday to Hampshire House — a halfway house in Manchester, N.H. — where he had been serving part of a 27-month sentence for a serious assault on a fellow inmate that occurred while he was in federal prison for bank robbery.
In a statement announcing Judkins’ capture yesterday, the U.S. Marshals office thanked the public for their tips.
“The U.S. Marshals requested the public’s assistance in tracking down Judkins,” the statement read. “This plea was answered by countless members of the public that called, texted and e-mailed tips in that placed Mr. Judkins in states from New Hampshire to California and everywhere in between.”
Marshals said the team tracking Judkins evaluated each tip, and tracked Judkins to a house on Black Walnut Street in Howard, Pa.
There, a task force including U.S. Marshals, the Lycoming Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania state police and Clinton County probation officers converged on the home and took Judkins into custody. Also arrested was Quintin Titus, 22, for an alleged probation violation.
“This dangerous fugitive was quickly arrested due in part to the large number of tips that came into our office, combined with the tireless work of the investigators in both N.H. and Pennsylvania,” U.S. Marshal David L. Cargill Jr. said. “Thank you to everyone that had a part in this investigation, without your help, this quick arrest would not have been possible.”
Judkins and Quintin are currently being held at the Lycoming County Prison in Williamsport, Pa.