Accused Navy Deserter Arrested at Border

(Buffalo, New York) Last Saturday, a 24-year-old man, Jeffrey Mitchell, attempted to enter New York at the Peace Bridge crossing in Buffalo and was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) on a federal warrant out of California.

Additional record checks performed by CBP officers during a secondary inspection revealed that Mitchell was the subject of a nation-wide felony warrant issued on May 2, 2007 by the U.S. Navy Absentee Collection and Information Center. The warrant charges Mitchell with military desertion.

CBP officers verified the validity of the warrant and confirmed extradition. Mitchell was then arrested and turned over to the custody of the Buffalo Police Department pending extradition to California.

Mitchell told officers that he was returning from a two-day vacation in Niagara Falls, Ontario.