Police intensify search for US fugitive

Local police officers were up to late yesterday working with the United States (US) Marshal Service in an attempt to apprehend 49 year old Sean Lopes who is believed to be residing in T&T and wanted in the US for attempted murder and kidnapping offences. Police sources revealed yesterday the local Interpol officers were in communication with their international counterparts in an attempt to locate the fugitive. Checks through the T&T Immigration Database revealed, however, that Lopes had not entered into T&T through any legal port using his name or any of his known aliases, sources revealed, yesterday. A release from the US Embassy on Tuesday said that Lopes who goes by the names Sean H Lopes, Shane M Lopes and Sean Hendrick Lopes was wanted for the attempted murder and kidnapping of a 22-year-old female acquaintance. 

 

Lopes, who was born in Guyana, was said to have attacked Amanda Hopkins, a school teacher on June 25, 2004 at her Bronx, New York apartment. Hopkins was later rescued by police who charged Lopes for the offences. Lopes was later granted bail but absconded. He was tried in absentia, convicted and sentenced on May 20, 2005 to 15 years in prison. Lopes is said to have ties to T&T, Guyana, Canada, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. He is described as male, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 140 lbs. (weight fluctuates), light-skinned, with brown hair and black eyes, and usually clean shaven, but sometimes has facial hair. A reward is available for information that leads to his capture. 

 

• Anyone with information on Lopes’ whereabouts can contact Crime Stoppers at 800-TIPS (8477).