State Police Office of Media Relations
Daytime (508) 820-2623
Nights & Weekends (508) 820-2121
State Police Capture Another Most Wanted Sex Offender
State troopers found WILLIAM VELEZ JR., 27, hiding under a bed in a room at the Days Inn in Brighton. VELEZ was taken into custody without incident by State Police Sgt. Richard Hunter and Trooper John Strazzullo. VELEZ was at the room with a girlfriend.
VELEZ is wanted by the Waltham Police Department on charges of home invasion, failure to register as a sex offender, and larceny under $250. He additionally is wanted by Boston Police for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. VELEZ was convicted in 2006 of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and violated terms of his probation.
Earlier yesterday, another new member of the state’s Most Wanted Sex Offenders list was captured in a house in Georgia. MARCUS NELSON, 47, was arrested by Powder Springs, Ga., Police after Massachusetts State Police contacted them Tuesday night. The State Police Violent Apprehension Section had developed information that NELSON, who is wanted by Lynn Police for failing to register as a sex offender following his sentence for a 1987 aggravated rape conviction, was in Powder Springs, a city of about 15,000 located 20 miles west of Atlanta.
VELEZ and NELSON were among four people added yesterday by State Police and the Sex Offender Registry Board to the list of the state’s Most Wanted Sex Offenders. The newcomers replaced offenders who were captured since the list was last updated in the fall. The wanted persons on the list are Level 3 sex offenders – those deemed to be at the highest risk of committing another sex crime and a danger to the community. All have failed to register with the board as required by law.
Two new additions to the list remain at large.
- CARLOS I. BELTRAN, 43, is wanted by Haverhill Police for indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 and failure to register as a sex offender, and by Newton Police for violation of an abuse prevention order. BELTRAN was previously convicted of indecent assault and battery in 2006 and served 18 months in state prison. BELTRAN is white with a fair complexion, 5’10” tall, 190 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
- DONALD TURNER, 41, is wanted by Boston Police for failure to register as a sex offender and assault and battery. TURNER was convicted of rape in Alabama in 1992 and served a jail term there, and also was convicted of rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over in Massachusetts in 1997. TURNER is black with a medium complexion, 6’ tall, 270 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
The new additions joined four other at-large sex offenders already on the list:
- RYAN E. LOVELL, 25, previously convicted for assault and battery on a child and currently wanted by police in Worcester and Montana for failure to register as a sex offender;
- STEVEN M. COOPER, 42, previously convicted of rape and currently wanted by Springfield Police for failure to register as a sex offender and rape;
- JOSE A. DAVILA, 39, previously convicted of rape and abuse of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child and currently wanted by Holyoke Police for failure to register as a sex offender and trespassing; and
- ANGEL MARTINEZ, 42, previously convicted of rape of a child, indecent assault and battery, and posing a child in the nude and currently wanted by Massachusetts State Police and Chelsea Police for failure to register as a sex offender, rape and abuse of a child, and posing a child in the nude.
Photos of sex offenders on the Most Wanted List may be viewed at www.mass.gov/msp/wanted/sexoffenders/wanted-sexoffenders.htm. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the wanted sex offenders is urged to call Massachusetts State Police at 1-800-KAPTURE (1-800-527-8873) or (508) 820-2121.
Two more former fugitives were destined for inclusion on the Most Wanted list prior to their recently being taken into custody by other police departments. ERIC A. MORALES, 33, was wanted by Fitchburg Police for failing to register as required by his previous rape conviction. JOHN M. KING, 35, was wanted by Worcester Police for a probation violation, failure to register as a sex offender and breaking and entering in the daytime.