In a dramatic pre-dawn capture shrouded by the quiet of Stoneham’s woods, Massachusetts State Police fugitive troopers, along with a stalwart K9 and US Marshals, reeled in RICKLAND POWELL, 59, an alleged predator charged with the heinous act of child rape, authorities have announced. According to MSP News, their efforts ended with POWELL suspended from a tree in an apparent suicide attempt before his capture.
Following a tip to a wooded Belmont locale, the MSP Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section (MSP VFAS) and US Marshals Service Task Force Officers (USMS TFOs) embarked upon a nightlong quest that culminated in the apprehension of the accused sex offender, a search crucially aided by MSP K9 Unit Trooper Christina Cavagnaro and her four-legged partner Thor who sniffed down the scent trail, leading officers to the man who was barely clinging to life.
The suspect, who had been wanted on multiple counts, including Rape of a Child with Force and Aggravated Statutory Rape, was swiftly cut down and rushed to a hospital where he remained alive, as reported by MSP News; The Belmont Police Department, which requested MSP VFAS assistance, has since taken POWELL into custody.
The manhunt for POWELL, according to authorities, was sparked by charges implicating him in multiple sexual assaults against a young girl and his alleged actions, including Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under 14 and Posing a Child in a Sex Act; Cambridge Police and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department played key roles in the effort to locate the accused, whose capture now sets the stage for a legal reckoning.
