A Florida man who spent time on the run is back in custody after federal marshals and local authorities tracked him down on a tropical island.
Robert Gary, 50, was arrested without incident at approximately 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, while walking near the U.S. Post Office in Cruz Bay on the island of St. John.
The arrest was a joint operation executed by the U.S. Marshals Service in the District of the Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands Police Department Special Response Team, and special agents from the Virgin Islands Department of Justice.
Gary was wanted on a failure to appear warrant issued out of Jacksonville, Florida. The underlying charges from the Jacksonville warrant include aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, leaving the scene of a crash involving injury, resisting an officer without violence, and several other traffic-related offenses.
The breakthrough in the search came after the Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force in Jacksonville sent a collateral lead to investigators in St. Thomas. Local U.S. Marshals investigators then uncovered a link between the fugitive and a tattoo shop operating in Cruz Bay. The business was licensed under the name Eric Gary, which authorities recognized as a known alias used by Robert Gary.
After developing this information, investigators set up surveillance in Cruz Bay, positively identified Gary on the street Tuesday afternoon, and moved in to make the arrest.
According to agency data, the U.S. Marshals Service task forces operate by blending federal, state, and local law enforcement resources to track down individuals fleeing justice. The agency reported that in 2025, its task forces arrested 73,323 fugitives and cleared 87,984 warrants across the nation, averaging roughly 293 fugitive arrests per day throughout the year.
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