In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office created Operation: Purple Rain in a focused effort to locate and apprehend domestic violence suspects with outstanding warrants.
On the first of October the Sheriff’s Office released a list of 10 fugitives who were identified as the primary targets of Operation: Purple Rain. After considerable efforts, five of the ten fugitives were located and apprehended during the month of October. Those individuals are: Ivan Rodriguez, Aaron Hockersmith, Stephen Peterson, Taylor Gardner, and Robert Miller.
The Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate leads into at least three of the five remaining fugitives, and efforts to locate and apprehend those individuals is ongoing. To view Yuma County’s Most Wanted, go to yumacountysheriff.net/fugitives. Citizens with information pertaining to the possible whereabouts of any fugitive are encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office by calling dispatch at 332-4805, emailing fugitives@yumacountysheriff.net, or by sending a private message (PM) on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page @YumaCountySheriff.