Officer of the Month: Takes off from own birthday party -- to catch perp
Talk about dedication to the job! Washington’s Most Wanted is honoring Ofc. Henry Pineda with the U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force, for more than 13 years of work catching fugitives, and for coming in on his birthday to stake out and arrest missing sex offender, Andrew Trotman, a violent pimp accused of beating and raping a 17 year old girl he tried to force into prostitution in Federal Way. Ofc. Pineda says, "Our task force developed some information on him, after several interviews with family and friends. We went to the Renton, Issaquah area where we thought he might be and our task force team set up surveillance at that location." For the next six hours, Ofc. Pineda and 9 other task force members waited and watched for Trotman. The convicted sex offender had been on the run for less than a week when they tracked him down. He was hiding in a motor home with his pit bull. The dog came out first, and then Trotman. "He said he was relieved. He was tired of hiding. He saw himself on TV on the show. He said he'd lost like 30 pounds. He had no place to eat and no place to go." Trotman is just the latest of thousands of dangerous felons he's found. Two years ago, WMW host David Rose went along with the task force for ‘Operation SNOCAP’ -- hunting dozens of wanted sex offenders. Officer Pineda was the team leader. Chief Deputy Jack Williams with the U.S. Marshals Service says Ofc. Pineda and the entire task force have an amazing work ethic. "These men and women, they put their personal time on hold so that they can go out and do this type of work. If you're wanted in Western Washington, you better be looking over your shoulder because these people are out there, looking for you." Just like in Andrew Trotman's case, if you’re a sex offender accused of brutalizing girls, you can be sure Ofc. Pineda will find you. "I have kids. I have a daughter, and just helping out the community and making everybody safer. These guys have to be held accountable for what they do.” Congratulations to Ofc. Henry Pineda, our June Officer of the Month!