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HARTFORD, CONN.—A jogger who saved a suicidal teenager from drowning herself in a U.S. lake was a convicted child molester on the run for six years, police said Wednesday. Michael Rogers, 49, said he could not bear to walk away and have the girl’s death on his conscience, and police in Hamden, Conn., said an officer involved in the rescue might have died without his help, too.
Rogers was being held without bond Wednesday, one day after he was arrested at his sister’s home on a charge of being a fugitive from justice, police said. Georgia authorities said they planned to seek his extradition. Police say Rogers was convicted in 2001 of four counts of child molestation in Georgia but left the state in 2005 against terms of his probation. Details about the crime were not immediately available.
Police in Hamden said they first encountered Rogers on Sept. 2 when he pulled the despondent 16-year-old from a murky lake and rescued a police officer who got stuck in deep muck during the rescue.
Rogers, who identified himself to police as Michael Patrick, told the New Haven Registerafterward that he was jogging when he was flagged down by a crying staff member from a child therapy centre who was begging the girl to return to shore.
He said he scaled the fence around the lake and restrained the teen for more than five minutes until a police officer arrived and jumped in the deep muck to join the struggle. He said the girl was begging him to let her go so she could die.
At one point, police said, Rogers rescued the officer when he became submerged so deep in the muck that he could not pull himself out.
Rogers eventually carried the girl to shore. The teenager was taken to a hospital and the officer was sent home for the day to tend to bruises and scrapes.
“If I walked away, it would be on my conscience,” Rogers told the Register, describing himself as an unemployed security sales consultant from Manhattan who was between jobs and spending time with his sister.
The grateful officer visited Rogers at his sister’s home to thank him afterward, and police said he was instrumental in saving the girl’s life — and, potentially, that of the officer.
Police learned his true identity on Nov. 23 but did not disclose Wednesday how they received the information.
It wasn’t known when he might be returned to Georgia to face the charge of violating his probation.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/...uicidal-teen-was-fugitive-child-molester?bn=1
Rogers was being held without bond Wednesday, one day after he was arrested at his sister’s home on a charge of being a fugitive from justice, police said. Georgia authorities said they planned to seek his extradition. Police say Rogers was convicted in 2001 of four counts of child molestation in Georgia but left the state in 2005 against terms of his probation. Details about the crime were not immediately available.
Police in Hamden said they first encountered Rogers on Sept. 2 when he pulled the despondent 16-year-old from a murky lake and rescued a police officer who got stuck in deep muck during the rescue.
Rogers, who identified himself to police as Michael Patrick, told the New Haven Registerafterward that he was jogging when he was flagged down by a crying staff member from a child therapy centre who was begging the girl to return to shore.
He said he scaled the fence around the lake and restrained the teen for more than five minutes until a police officer arrived and jumped in the deep muck to join the struggle. He said the girl was begging him to let her go so she could die.
At one point, police said, Rogers rescued the officer when he became submerged so deep in the muck that he could not pull himself out.
Rogers eventually carried the girl to shore. The teenager was taken to a hospital and the officer was sent home for the day to tend to bruises and scrapes.
“If I walked away, it would be on my conscience,” Rogers told the Register, describing himself as an unemployed security sales consultant from Manhattan who was between jobs and spending time with his sister.
The grateful officer visited Rogers at his sister’s home to thank him afterward, and police said he was instrumental in saving the girl’s life — and, potentially, that of the officer.
Police learned his true identity on Nov. 23 but did not disclose Wednesday how they received the information.
It wasn’t known when he might be returned to Georgia to face the charge of violating his probation.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/...uicidal-teen-was-fugitive-child-molester?bn=1
