Published: October 10, 2008 06:26 pm            

Fugitive caught in Mexico

A 24-year-old man who fled the country after being indicted for a violent offense in Henderson County has been arrested in Mexico.

James Edward Bonk Jr. of Gun Barrel City was arrested on a bond forfeiture warrant in connection with an aggravated robbery. He was booked at the Hidalgo County Jail pending his return to Henderson County. Bonk's bond has been set at $250,000 Anton Slavich, of the United States Marshal’s Office in Tyler said.

The Henderson County District Attorney’s Office said the aggravated robbery charge was filed on Bonk Jan. 24, 2007. He was indicted on March 28. Bonk was later released after posting a $10,000 bond. According to information from the Gun Barrel City Police Department Bonk beat his victim in the head and fled with a small amount of property.

Bonk had previous arrests in Henderson County including a Class A Misdemeanor charge of assault causing bodily injury to a family member for which he was sentenced to a short jail term and fine in 2005.

Slavich said Bonk fled the county in September of last year and had been living in Mexico. The Texas Department of Public Safety then turned the case over to the Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force. The Task Force is a team established in 2005 to primarily seek out and arrest federal, state, and local fugitives with violent criminal histories.

The task force learned of Bonk’s whereabouts and enlisted the help of the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force office in McAllen. The Task Force contacted Mexican law enforcement authorities in Tampaulipas, Slavich said.

Mexican officials arrested Bonk in Reynosa, a city just across the border from HiIdalgo, Texas, on a charge of violating Mexican immigration laws.

Slavic said investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the apprehension of approximately 34,000 federal fugitives each year. More federal fugitives are arrested by Marshals than all other federal agencies combined. In addition, the Marshal’s office leads 85 local fugitive task forces.

No information was available from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department concerning when Bonk might be returned to the county.

        

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