Polygamous-sect leader caught after year on lam
Polygamous-sect leader Lyle Jeffs was captured in South Dakota after he pawned two pairs of pliers and provided a real identification card following nearly a year on the run, authorities and the pawn shop owner said.
The suspicious pawn shop employee notified the owner, who learned more about him online and alerted authorities, that Jeffs was wanted by the FBI.
Jeffs was alone near a lakeside marina and hours away from a compound in the state run by his polygamous group when an off duty police detective spotted a pickup truck Thursday that a tipster told police Jeffs had been driving, said Eric Barnhart, FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Salt Lake City Division.
Jeffs complied with officers when he was arrested Wednesday at a lakeside marina near the small town of Yankton in the southeastern corner of South Dakota, Barnhart said. Authorities believe he had been in that area for the last two weeks and was living out of his pickup.
Authorities had been hunting for Jeffs since he escaped home confinement in Utah on June 18, 2016, ahead of his trial in an alleged multimillion-dollar food stamp fraud scheme.
The events leading to Jeffs’ capture started Tuesday when he went to a pawn shop and sold two pairs of Leatherman pliers for $37 and provided his ID, owner Kevin Haug said.
A store employee notified Haug after Jeffs had left the store that Jeffs was wanted by the FBI. Haug called police in Yankton.
Jeffs also visited the store last week and tried to sell a tool, but the store did not buy them that time, and Jeffs did not identify himself during the earlier visit.
Barnhart declined comment on whether Haug was the tipster credited with helping authorities capture Jeffs, but Yankton County Chief Deputy Michael Rothschadl said authorities looked for Jeffs in the area because of the pawn shop tip.
The FBI had issued a $50,000 reward for information leading to Jeffs’ arrest, and Barnhart said the agency is determining if the unidentified tipster will get paid.
Jeffs’ group, known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. The group is an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, which disavowed polygamy more than 100 years ago.