WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A fugitive who has been on the run since 2019 was captured in West Palm Beach on Wednesday after scrambling across a neighbor’s roof during a manhunt.
According to an arrest affidavit, agents with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office’s Fugitive Warrants Division went to a home on Christine Lane around 11:00 a.m. to arrest 39-year-old Yusley Chavez Barreto. He was wanted on an active warrant out of Polk County for failure to appear on a marijuana trafficking charge.
Investigators say people inside the home initially lied to deputies, claiming they didn’t know him. At one point, a woman inside released a large black dog into the backyard to scare deputies away, forcing an agent to flee into the front yard to avoid using force on the animal.
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Chavez Barreto then bolted from the home and jumped a fence onto Gun Club Road. Deputies say he climbed onto the roof of an outbuilding being used as a residence, busting through two sections of the roof as he ran.
Following a containment search, deputies found Chavez Barreto hidden in an easement between two fences.
Records show Chavez Barreto has been off the grid since 2019, when he gave law enforcement a false name during a stop and fled.
Deputies say he was subsequently booked into Palm Beach County Jail for counts of burglary of an occupied dwelling, criminal mischief damage to property, and resisting without violence.