Written by
WKYC Web Staff
ELYRIA -- A wanted fugitive has been apprehended thanks to the help of an electronic billboard.
The Lorain County Sheriff's Office issued a warrant for Bryant Newson, 33, last month for failure to register as a sex offender. Newson was convicted in 2000 in the rape of a 16-year-old.
A tipster called the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force after seeing Newson's picture on a digital billboard. Based on the tipster's information, marshals took Newson into custody at a home on Middle Avenue in Elyria.
Marshals say Newson tried to hide under a pile of clothes in a bedroom.
After his arrest, marshals say Newsom told his transporting officers he was considering turning himself in because everyone was telling him they saw his face on the billboards.
The U.S. Marshals displayed the wanted information on Clear Channel billboards around Northeast Ohio earlier this month.
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