John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch thought themselves Bonnie and Clyde, but were caught anyway. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Two of the most wanted fugitives in the nation, John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch, have been taken into custody. People have been making comparisons between the two and Bonnie and Clyde. They escaped less than a month ago from Arizona State Prison, and have been on the run since. They were believed to be in several locations after their escape, including Yellowstone National Park, and Arkansas. They were arrested in an Arizona State Park, with the brave assistance of a Park Ranger who alerted authorities.
Ranger braves the danger
A Forest Service Park Ranger was patrolling the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest. He spotted an unattended fire in a campground and had the vehicle’s license plate checked out, according to ABC. When it came back stolen, he alerted police. Officers arrived to take them into custody, and they discovered the people who had the vehicle were the two fugitives. After their arrest, which went peacefully, John McCluskey told authorities if he had been able to get to his tent, he would have engaged in a shoot out with the police. McCluskey and his fiance Casslyn Welch, who is also his cousin, were taken without incident.
Desperate manhunt ends
After John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch broke out of Arizona State Prison with fellow inmates Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick, a massive manhunt went underway. Province and Renwick were captured soon after, and McCluskey and Welch were spotted in Yellowstone National Park and in Butte, Mon. Butte was the last sighting of the two. They are also thought, according to the Associated Press, to be linked to the murder of Gary and Linda Haas in New Mexico. The Haases were discovered around Aug. 4, and the vehicle McCluskey and Welch possessed had New Mexico plates.
Bonnie and Clyde
For some reason, people have a romantic notion about Bonnie and Clyde types. The actual Bonnie and Clyde weren’t romantic (Clyde was supposedly gay and they were robbing banks before the FDIC existed), and these two aren’t either. They are violent criminals, and it is better they go back to behind bars. The ranger who called police is to be commended.
Further Reading
