A former Rhode Island anesthesiologist who had been on the run for more than 20 years after being convicted of sexual assault was arrested Thursday on his sailboat the Silver Lining in the East River in New York City.
FBI Boston was among the law enforcement agencies that announced the apprehension of Ronald L. Fischer, 70, who was accused of date rape in 2003 while he and a woman were on his yacht at the time, the Lion King, as it was docked in Rhode Island, according to news reports.
After fleeing just before closing arguments began in his trial two years later, he was convicted in absentia of first-degree sexual assault as well being hit with arrest warrants for Failure to Appear and Flight to Avoid Prosecution.
According to the New York Times:
Mr. Fischer’s exact whereabouts during the following years were largely unknown, but in the 48 hours before his arrest this week, the authorities determined that he was in New York, according to the U.S. Marshals Service, which assisted the F.B.I. and other law enforcement agencies in his capture.
Officials arrested Mr. Fischer “without incident” after intercepting his 56-foot boat, known as The Silver Lining, at about 11:20 a.m. on Thursday as he was sailing on the East River toward the Long Island Sound, the Marshals Service said.
Authorities reported that the Silver Lining was registered under the alias Richard Graydon, according to the Marshals Service.
“This arrest demonstrates that time does not erase accountability,” Wing Chau, U.S. marshal for the district of Rhode Island, said in a statement. “For more than 20 years, Ronald Fischer believed he had successfully escaped justice.”
He continued, “The men and women of the Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force, together with our partners, remained committed to ensuring that day would eventually come.”
Fischer, handcuffed and wearing typical yachtsman’s garb of a light-blue shirt and gray khaki pants, appeared Friday at a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court.
He waived his right to a formal extradition hearing and will be transported to Rhode Island by the end of July, remaining in custody in New York until that time.
The Times also reported that a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office said the authorities had searched Fischer’s residence, but declined to specify its location.
There, they reported finding several books on “how to evade law enforcement.”
They also determined the former anesthesiologist had sent emails to his neighbors asking if he was being sought by police, according to the prosecutor.
Breitbart contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more
