New Hampshire Escapees Caught In New York And Maine: Task Force

CONCORD, NH — Two escapees from the New Hampshire Department of Corrections were captured in two different states this week, according to the U.S. Marshals Service and corrections officials.

Shaun Michael Cook, 41, who has been missing since November 2019, was arrested in Jamestown, New York, Monday while Shawn Tarr, 44, who was placed on walkaway status Aug. 29, was arrested in Parsonsfield, Maine, Tuesday.

Cook, a minimum-security inmate who was serving the end of his time in a transitional housing unit, failed to return as scheduled last year and had been on the lam for 10 months. Recently though, corrections officials developed information that he might be in New York.

"This information was relayed to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in New York who were able to take Mr. Cook quickly and safely into custody on Monday afternoon," Jeffrey White, a deputy marshal, said.

Cook is being held in New York as a fugitive from justice on the New Hampshire escape warrant and he may face more charges after being accused of using a false name, "Sammie Weeks," and be arrested in New York while using that name, White said.

Tarr, who was serving the end of a sentence for drug possession and other charges, walked away from a work site about a month ago. Corrections investigators, White said, gathered information that pointed to possible locations in Maine. Members of the U.S. Marshals-Maine Violent Offenders Task Force were given the information and tracked down Tarr — who was also accused of using a fake name, "Jason Anderson," at the time of his arrest. He is being held in the Cumberland County Jail.

According to the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, in the Cook case, investigators and marshals were assisted by the Jamestown NY Police Department and marshals in New York while Massachusetts and Maine state police, the York County Sheriff's Department, Biddeford ME Police Department, the Maine State Violent Offender Task Force, as well as corrections and marshals assisted in the Tarr case.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the U.S. Marshals Service and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.

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