Investigation Leads to the Arrest of 'Fugitive of the Week' at Rochester Motel

Concord, NH – This morning, the United States Marshals Service – NH Joint Fugitive Task Force is happy to announce the arrest of today’s featured “Fugitive of the Week.”

Shaun William Laws, 32 years-of-age, who was last known to be transient in Rochester had just been featured this morning as the “Fugitive of the Week.” Mr. Laws was wanted on two outstanding arrest warrants including one issued by the Strafford County Superior Court for failing to appear on a charge of assault by a prisoner. The second warrant was issued by the Rockingham County Superior Court for probation violations on an original conviction and sentence on a theft by unauthorized taking case.

As part of this feature as the “Fugitive of the Week,” Mr. Laws had been aired on WTPL-FM, WNTK-FM, WTSN-FM, WEMJ-FM, The Union Leader, The Nashua Telegraph, The Patch, Foster’s Daily Democrat, Manchester Information, the Manchester Ink Link, the Rochester Voice and prominently featured on the internet. The “Fugitive of the Week” continues to be a very successful tool that has resulted in the location and arrest of numerous fugitives since its creation in 2007. Additionally, the “Fugitive of the Week” was distributed statewide to all law enforcement officers in New Hampshire.

Today, members of the U.S. Marshals - New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force developed information pointing to a Rochester motel. After a short period of surveillance, members of the task force went to the motel room and made contact with the renter who is a known relative of Laws. After initially denying Shaun’s presence in the room, Shaun was located in the bathroom and arrested without further incident.

Mr. Laws was transported by the task force to the Strafford County Jail for processing and holding pending his initial court appearances on his two outstanding arrest warrants.

This arrest was made by several member agencies of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, including members from the Strafford County Sheriff’s Office, the Greenfield Police Department, along with a a deputy U.S. Marshal.

Since the inception of the U.S. Marshals - New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force in 2002, these partnerships have resulted in over 8,542 arrests (Updated as of 12/31/2021). These arrests have ranged in seriousness from murder, assault, unregistered sex offenders, probation and parole violations and numerous other serious offenses. Nationally the United States Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, 8 regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.