In a remarkable turn of events, a Florida police officer apprehended a man listed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list during a standard traffic stop. Sgt. Michelle Bilbrey of the Lady Lake Police Department made the arrest on Saturday morning after noticing the vehicle's license plate wasn't registered to the car. The apprehended individual, 60-year-old Donald Eugene Fields II, faces federal charges of child sex trafficking and state charges of child rape.
Fields' capture concluded a period of being on the run since March 2022, when he failed to appear in a Missouri court for charges including statutory rape, statutory sodomy, child molestation, and witness tampering. A federal indictment from December 2023 in St. Louis further accuses him of attempting to recruit and exploit a minor for commercial sex acts between 2013 and 2017.
Both Lady Lake Police Chief Steve Hunt and FBI Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson lauded Sgt. Bilbrey's vigilance and the department's commitment to routine policing. This incident highlights how seemingly ordinary traffic stops can have significant impacts on public safety, even leading to the capture of high-profile fugitives. Fields is now awaiting his initial court appearance in a Florida federal court.
