‘America’s Most Wanted’ Viewer Tip Leads to 1,187th Capture (EXCLUSIVE)
It’s only a week after “America’s Most Wanted” returned to air and already a viewer tip has led to a new capture. This marks the 1,187th one for the series, which originated in 1988.
Phillip Dent was arrested for a carjacking that took place in Littleton, Colo. in January. Through security camera footage from the car wash where the crime took place, the January event was covered on the premiere episode of Fox’s new version of “America’s Most Wanted,” which premiered March 15. In the footage, which you can watch above, a man in a baseball cap is seen entering the car wash, where a minivan is being serviced, open the driver’s side door and struggle to pull the driver out. She fights back, but he bites her on the arm, removes her from her own vehicle, and drives away in it. At the time, Vargas narrated that police had the name of the suspect, and knew what he looked like, but needed viewer help to find him.
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And after seeing the “crime alert” case on the show, that’s exactly what a local resident in Denver did. Contacting the Littleton Police Department with information that proved to be accurate and helpful, Dent was arrested. The details of this arrest will be explored on the next new episode of “America’s Most Wanted,” which airs Monday, March 29 at 9 p.m. on Fox.
“America’s Most Wanted” takes viewer tips for all of the cases shown, both through the hotline (1-833-3-AMW-TIPS) and website (AMWTIPS.COM).
“America’s Most Wanted” was revived by Fox this year, a decade after the network had canceled the original series in 2011. Originally premiering on the broadcaster in 1988 with John Walsh in the host role, the show moved to Lifetime in September 2011, just a few months after Fox canceled it. It aired new episodes there through 2012, with its official cancelation coming almost six months later, in March 2013. During that original run, 1,186 fugitives were brought to justice.
When Fox announced the revival of this series, president of alternative entertainment and specials, Rob Wade, said they hoped to “continue John Walsh’s long-standing mission to be a powerful voice for crime victims everywhere.” Utilizing new technology and other crime-fighting tools and engaging the citizen detectives who have been empowered by social media over the last decade, “America’s Most Wanted” is already well on its way to helping capture dozens, if not hundreds, more criminals.
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