Marshals catch Ohio man wanted in 1974 fatal crash

The U.S. Marshals CLEVELAND — Service captured a Cleveland man wanted on a warrant in a 1974 fatal car crash after he managed to elude authorities for decades by using aliases and frequently moving, according to a news release.

Alan Brown, 67, was arrested Tuesday night in Bladensburg, Maryland. The Cleveland Marshal’s cold case unit, led by Deputy U.S. Marshal David Siler, tracked his movements from Cleveland to Farmington Hills, Michigan, outside of Detroit, to the Washington, D.C. area where he was living this year.

A grand jury indicted Brown in April 1974 on an aggravated vehicular homicide charge, according to court records. The Marshals Service says Brown drove faster than 90 mph while going the wrong way on Interstate 71. Brown then sideswiped a car and collided with another vehicle.

Juanita Reed, a passenger in the second car, died in the crash.

Brown, who was intoxicated, jumped into the back of a random car going the other direction and left, but authorities found him and arrested him, the Marshals said. He pleaded guilty to the indictment in May 1974 but fled before sentencing, according to court records and the Marshals Service.

He is now being held in a jail in the Washington, D.C. area and is expected to be brought back to Cleveland.

Siler said Brown evaded law enforcement for years using fake names and moving to different states. He said Brown worked odd jobs for the past 43 years until his arrest.

Siler has worked as the local Marshals’ office cold case unit since 2015. He has made arrests for cases going back decades. His work led to the 2015 arrest of Frank Freshwaters, an Akron man who walked off a Sandusky work camp in 1959, where he was serving a prison sentence.

At the time, he was serving a sentence for a probation violation that stemmed from his hitting a man with his car in 1957.

The Ohio Parole Board decided to release Freshwaters, 81, from prison in February 2016.

“Our Deputy Marshals and Task Force Officers will continue to relentlessly pursue those who attempt to evade justice no matter how long they have been on the run,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in the news release.

The Cleveland CLEVELAND — Cavaliers have announced that the $140 million transformation of Quicken Loans Arena is a go.

The announcement Wednesday comes a little more than a week after Cavs CEO Len Komoroski said the organization was withdrawing from the project.

The project was revived last week after critics withdrew petitions that would have required a referendum on Cleveland’s contribution to the transformation.

The Cavs said then they would reconsider the decision to pull out of the deal to renovate Quicken Loans Arena since construction delays that would have occurred due to a required vote on the referendum were no longer an issue.

“We are excited to confirm our renewed capital commitment of over $70 million to help renovate and transform Quicken Loans Arena — a tremendous publicly-owned asset for our community,” Komoroski said Wednesday.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish issued statements of support.

Jackson said: “Throughout the process, my support for this agreement never wavered,” Jackson said. ‘My efforts have always been to create vibrant neighborhoods and a vibrant downtown. I’ve said it before — this deal is one of the best I’ve seen because it provides opportunities for all of Cleveland.”

Budish said: “We’re excited the transformation project is back on track and we’re looking forward to the energy and positive impact this important economic project will bring to the region.”

If construction begins by mid-September, the Cavs may salvage the opportunity to host the NBA All-Star game in 2020 or 2021. The Cavs said that issue is still to be determined.

Greater Cleveland Congregations, which led the referendum drive and sought a dollar-for-dollar match of the $140 million for neighborhood investments, agreed to the withdrawal of the petitions due to the county’s commitment to mental health and substance abuse crisis centers.

The deal that was reached last December to transform the 22-year-old arena apparently remains the same.

The Cavs will extend their lease from 2027 to 2034. The team also pledged to rehab basketball floors in all of the city of Cleveland’s rec centers and all of the Cleveland school district’s high schools. That pledge would have involved about 40 gymnasiums.

The financing plan, which includes annual debt interest of $9 million, includes a reserve fund for professional sports facilities.