N.Y. Fugitive Featured on TV Show Caught in Orange

A fugitive featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted” after being found guilty of sodomizing three girls in New York was arrested Thursday at a motel here, authorities said.

Ronald Craig Vahue, 47, fled to California while he was free on bail and awaiting sentencing in Rochester, N.Y., in March 1994 and has since been living at the Villa Park Motel in Orange, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Jason Constantine.

Vahue was among New York’s “Dirty Dozen,” a list of the most-wanted felons in that state, and was featured on “America’s Most Wanted” on Nov. 25, said Randy Pacek, a senior investigator in charge of the case in New York.

Information from callers, one of whom had spoken to Vahue about six months ago and saw the segment, led the New York State Police to him.

Three U.S. marshals, including Constantine, went to Vahue’s Tustin Avenue motel room about 10:15 a.m. and saw Vahue sitting in his room. He was registered under the name Dan Dwyer and had told the motel manager he is from Buffalo, N.Y., authorities said.

“At first, he wouldn’t tell us who he is,” Constantine said. “So we sat him down and talked to him.”

One of several pieces of information from New York investigators is that Vahue is a Cleveland Browns fan. In the motel room’s closet, Constantine found a Browns hat and put it on the fugitive’s head as they were talking.

“I told him, ‘Now tell us who you are,’ and at that point, he admitted to his real name,” Constantine said.

Vahue was unemployed but had $1,000 in his wallet when he was arrested. Authorities don’t know where the money came from but speculated he might have been supported by relatives.

He probably will be returned to New York, where he faces up to 16 years in prison for sodomy, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of minors, all friends of his two teen-age daughters, Pacek said. He also faces separate prosecution for jumping bail.

From 1988 to the early 1990s, Vahue lured three girls under the age of 11 to his homes in Greece and Rochester, N.Y., and sodomized them, Pacek said. Vahue was arrested and convicted.

“He had made all court appearances until the day he was due to appear for sentencing,” Pacek said.

Orange County authorities said Vahue has been living at the Villa Park Motel since he left New York. A motel manager who requested anonymity said Vahue was one of his best customers.

“He was quiet and stays in his room most of the time,” the manager said. “He always paid the rent on time.”