Man Who Helped Rescue Teen Was Wanted Fugitive: Cops

The man was wanted for violating parole after child molestation convictions.

In September, a man helped a police officer rescue a missing 16-year-old girl from the murky waters of Lake Whitney in Hamden.

On Wednesday, that man was arrested.

Hamden police said he had been convicted of four counts of child molestation in 2001 in Georgia and was wanted for violating his probation.

The rescue happened on Sept. 2 after the teen was reported missing from the Children’s Center. The staff was concerned because she had shown suicidal tendencies, specifically with drowning.

When a police officer arrived at the Farmington Canal Trail after getting information that the teen was there, a man who identified himself as Michael Patrick was struggling with the youth to keep her from getting into the lake, police said.

The Hamden police officer who responded got stuck in the water and Patrick pulled the officer from the water, then helped the officer get the teen out of the water.

On Nov. 23, Hamden police learned that Michael Patrick was actually Michael Rogers, a 49-year-old wanted fugitive out of Georgia, according to police.

Police said Rogers absconded from the state of Georgia in 2005 and Georgia officials advised Hamden Police that they would have Rogers extradited.

On Nov. 29, Detective Raymond Quinn, of the United States Marshal Service Task Force, and other members of the task force arrested Rogers at his home.

Rogers was charged as a fugitive from Justice, detained on a $200,000 bond and transported to Meriden Superior Court this morning.
 

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