41 arrested in HUD-backed operation targeting Philly fugitives receiving public housing assistance
"Operation Moving Day" was carried out by U.S. Marshals and is part of a larger federal law enforcement initiative.
Forty one people in Philadelphia and surrounding areas were arrested in a sweeping operation conducted by the U.S. Marshals Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force this month, the agency said Monday.
The effort, dubbed “Operation Moving Day” targeted people wanted for violent felonies who were living in federally subsidized housing.
The initiative is part of a larger federal criminal enforcement campaign being carried out in cities across the country this year by the Inspector General’s Office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development with support from U.S. Marshals.
The Philadelphia-area operation led to the arrests of people wanted for felonies including arson, aggravated assault, armed robbery, crimes against children, and at least one shooting.
Robert Clark, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals’ Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force, said most of those arrested during the operation were living in private apartment units and had been receiving subsidized rental assistance through federal programs.
Arrests occurred in neighborhoods across the city, according to Clark, along with a handful of arrests occurred outside city limits and as far north as Lehigh County.
Among those arrested was a 31-year-old man wanted by Philadelphia police for his role in an early August shooting. The incident occurred on the 3300 block of North Smedley Street and left a woman hospitalized with a shoulder injury.
Marshals also arrested a 23-year-old employee of Bregy Elementary School in South Philadelphia who had been charged with indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor in late August, Clark said.
The operation marked the first time U.S. Marshals in Eastern Pennsylvania took part in a joint law enforcement effort backed by HUD, he said.
This summer, U.S. Marshals task forces in other major cities have aided HUD in arresting fugitives living in federally subsidized housing, such as Kansas City, Mo., Memphis, Minneapolis, and most recently in New York and New Jersey.
The arrests were part of a national operation called ‘Operation Clean House.” The initiative launched after the success of an operation in Columbus, Ohio last winter that led to the arrests of more than 50 people with outstanding felony warrants, Clark said.
A spokesperson for HUD did not immediately return a request for comment.
In February, after 16 people were arrested in a similar operation in Minneapolis, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Acting Inspector General Brian D. Harrison said the operation had successfully targeted “dangerous fugitives” living in federally subsidized housing.
“Defeating fraud in housing remains a top priority for HUD OIG,” Garrison said in a statement. “HUD housing is America’s housing serving millions of deserving Americans, and we are unwavering in our commitment to ensuring accountability throughout HUD’s programs.”
