U.S. Marshals Arrest 7,100 in Nationwide Sweep, Including 123 in Chicago Area

More than 100 fugitives and violent criminals were arrested in the Chicago area during a six-week initiative led by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Nationwide, Operation Violence Reduction 7 resulted in more than 7,100 arrests between March 2 and April 10, according to the federal agency.

Authorities pursued cases involving murder, robbery, kidnapping, sexual assault and other violent crimes; and gave priority to cases involving gang members, sex offenders and people with three or more prior felony arrests.

The U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Task Force headed the operation in Chicago, as well as other areas of Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, the agency said.

Roughly 477 felony fugitives were arrested in the Great Lakes Region, most from Illinois, the agency said. That includes fugitives accused of homicide, narcotics violations and weapons offenses.

Officials arrested 123 of them in the Chicago area, the marshals service said.

"We were able to arrest a lot of bad guys in a short amount of time because of the collaborative efforts between the U.S. Marshals Service and our task force partners from state and local law enforcement agencies," Chief Jason Grunwald, Task Force commander, said in the statement.

"Without the cooperative effort of the participating agencies, this would have taken personnel from each department countless man hours to perform."

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