Harrisburg, PA - Today, U.S. Marshal Martin J. Pane announced the arrest of Richard Eugene Schmittel - a 29-year old Harrisburg man.
On Feb. 3, 2020, the Harrisburg Bureau of Police investigated a shooting in the 400 block of Hummel Street in which a pedestrian and the occupant of a vehicle exchanged gunfire. Detectives identified the pedestrian as Schmittel and obtained an arrest warrant charging him with Criminal Attempt - Homicide and lesser included offenses. Attempts to find Schmittel were unsuccessful and the case was adopted by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Fugitive Task Force.
Task force members learned that Schmittel frequented the intersection of 14th and Kittatinny Street sin Harrisburg and placed it under surveillance. Today at about 9:15 a.m., they saw Schmittel walking but he fled on foot before he could be arrested. Task force members and Harrisburg police officers searched the area and spotted Schmittel in the 300 block of South 14th Street. Schmittel ran into an abandoned building and onto its roof. He tried to escape across adjacent rooftops but was captured without further incident and turned over to the Harrisburg Bureau of Police.
United States Marshal Martin J. Pane stated, “We place a high priority on fugitive cases in which the use of violence against victims occurs. By working with our law enforcement partners to ensure violent offenders are brought to justice, communities throughout Pennsylvania become safer and more secure."
The USMS Fugitive Task Force in the Middle District of Pennsylvania is comprised of 20 state, county and local police agencies, including: the Pennsylvania State Police; the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole; the Harrisburg Bureau of Police; the Swatara Township Police Department; the Lower Paxton Township Police Department; and, the Dauphin County Adult Probation Office - all of whom participated in this investigation.
