Executive Summary
- U.S. Marshals arrested Santos Calderon on a Texas warrant for a 1998 aggravated sexual assault of a child.
- Six additional individuals were arrested at the scene after attempting to hide in a restaurant ceiling.
- One federal officer was injured by a suspect wielding a box cutter during the arrests.
- Officials clarified the operation was a fugitive search, not a targeted ICE raid, though the collateral arrests were referred to immigration authorities.
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — Agents with the U.S. Marshals Mountain State Fugitive Task Force arrested a fugitive wanted for a 1998 child sexual assault and took six other individuals into custody following a chaotic scene at a shopping plaza on Friday. The operation, which took place at the Somerset Village Shopping Plaza, resulted in minor injuries to a federal officer and prompted clarification from officials regarding the nature of the enforcement action.
According to the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the primary target of the operation was Santos Calderon, an El Salvadoran national wanted on an outstanding warrant from Texas for aggravated sexual assault of a child. Authorities had received information suggesting Calderon was employed at either Mi Degollado or La Mezzaluna Café within the plaza. Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of West Virginia Zachary Boyd stated that while the agency requested assistance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding Calderon’s status, the event was strictly a fugitive apprehension mission rather than an immigration enforcement sweep.
Deputy Boyd reported that when officers approached one of the establishments and announced their presence, multiple employees attempted to evade law enforcement. “Multiple employees, including an individual matching Calderon’s description, attempted to evade law enforcement by quickly closing and locking doors and then climbing into the ceiling above the restaurant,” Boyd said in a statement to The Panhandle News Network.
During the apprehension of the individuals hiding in the ceiling, one suspect reportedly brandished a box cutter, resulting in an injury to an officer. The officer was treated at a hospital and released the same day. Boyd emphasized that the six additional individuals were arrested solely because they attempted to flee. “Had those employees not attempted to flee and hide in the ceiling, none of them would have even been approached by law enforcement,” Boyd noted, classifying the detentions as “collateral arrests.” The cases of the additional individuals were subsequently turned over to ICE.
Operational Context and Procedure
This incident highlights the operational complexities federal agents face when executing high-risk fugitive warrants in public commercial spaces. The distinction between a targeted immigration enforcement operation and a fugitive task force mission is procedurally significant; U.S. Marshals operate with specific mandates to apprehend wanted criminals, though collateral detentions often occur when individuals present at the scene attempt to evade police contact or obstruct justice. In this instance, the fleeing of multiple subjects escalated the situation from a warrant service to a tactical containment scenario involving officer injury. It is important to note that all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
