U.S. Marshals Arrest Fugitive of the Week After a Year on the Run

Concord, NH – The United States Marshals Service is very pleased to announce the arrest of a two-time "Fugitive of the Week," Willem Wonsang, in Townsend, Massachusetts.

After a year on the run, "Fugitive of the Week" Willem Wonsang, 46 years-of-age, was arrested without incident this morning. Wonsang had been featured in January, 2020 and most recently featured on September 9, 2020 as the "Fugitive of the Week" for the U.S. Marshals in New Hampshire. Wonsang was being sought on a Sullivan County Superior Court warrant for failing to appear on multiple charges including 1st & 2nd degree assault, as well as burglary. These warrants stem from an alleged home invasion in Langdon, New Hampshire which occurred in September 2018. This is the second time that Wonsang has been located and arrested by the U.S. Marshals in relation to this specific case. After the first arrest in March 2019 on these charges, Wonsang was released on bail and failed to appear which led to this most recent warrant being issued.

The New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force was relentless in their pursuit of Wonsang and followed up on all the tips that were received. This investigation recently led the team to an area of Townsend, where surveillance was conducted and Wonsang was observed this morning in a vehicle at a coffee shop on Elm Street. Members of the U.S. Marshals – New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force were able to arrest Mr. Wonsang without incident.

Mr. Wonsang was initially brought to the Townsend Police Department, where he was processed on a charge of being a fugitive from justice based on the outstanding arrest warrant in New Hampshire. Wonsang appeared in Ayer (MA) District Court and was ordered to be returned to New Hampshire. Since this hearing Wonsang has been turned over to the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office and will be held pending his initial court appearance in the Sullivan County Superior Court soon.

This arrest was made by several member agencies of the New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force including, the Belknap, Rockingham, Sullivan and Strafford County Sheriff's Offices, the Federal Protective Service, the Greenfield (New Hampshire) and Townsend (MA) Police Departments along with deputy U.S. Marshals.

As stated above, Wonsang had been featured as the "Fugitive of the Week" on both January 8th and September 9th 2020 which was aired on WTPL-FM, WMUR-TV, 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 implementation in 2007. Additionally, the "Fugitive of the Week" was distributed statewide to all law enforcement officers in New Hampshire.

Since the inception of the U.S. Marshals - New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force in 2002, these partnerships have resulted in over 8,218 arrests (Updated as of 12/16/2020). 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.