Emily Carlson's KEYC story
12.03.07 (6:53 pm) [edit]Escaped Level Three Sex Offender Caught
Published Date: 05-02-2006 06:46 PM CT
After 15 days on the run the nation wide search for a level three sex offender, escaped from our area is over. Tonight, 42 year old Michael Dale Benson is behind bars after his arrest early this morning in Kansas City. News 12's Emily Carlson joins us with the latest.
Their message all along has been not if, but when Benson would be captured. That "When" happened earlier today in Kansas City, Missouri, where FBI and Kansas City police spotted the 1997 Crown Victoria Benson allegedly stole the night he escaped from the St. Peter Treatment Center. This is video from America's Most Wanted website, which shows Benson being led into custody this morning. The FBI says the show, which featured Benson Saturday night, was crucial in putting the sex offender behind bars. "It's been damn good police work," St. Peter police chief Matt Peters says that after dozens of leads, a credible witness put Michael Benson in Kansas City. The FBI says Benson was using the name Michael Blue, shaved his beard and cut his hair, but made no attempt to hide. "We learned that Mr. Benson made company with a gentleman and had since then been in the company of that gentleman." The FBI says Michael Benson has been in Kansas City since Easter, when he met a man in a bar and moved into his house. Police and FBI started surveillance near that house early this morning, when they spotted that 1997 Crown Victoria with the same Minnesota plates. An hour and a half later, Michael Benson walked out of the house and got into that car. "Kansas City FBI with the Kansas City police department fugitive team conducted a felony stop, Mr. Benson was apprehended without incident and without weapons." Michael Benson and three other sex offenders escaped from the St. Peter treatment center back on April 15. They used a hacksaw blade to escape through the security window in one of their rooms. The other three escapees were caught that night, but Bens on eluded police until this morning. "We are relieved certainly they have been working hours upon hours to catch the guy so that tells you certainly how dangerous we believed he was." At this time, police are looking into the possibility that level three sex offender and convicted rapist Michael Benson may have sexually assaulted someone else. Police say they have no idea why Benson fled to Kansas City. The man whom Benson was staying with was clueless to the fact he was living with an escaped felon. Right now Michael Benson sits in jail. The Nicollet County sheriff's chief deputy is on his way to Kansas City as we speak to negotiate his return to Minnesota. Emily Carlson, News 12.
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