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Elite Aurora Police Department fugitive squad tracks down hard-to-find suspects

FAST unit made up of six officers
Posted at 10:52 PM, May 08, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-09 00:52:51-04

AURORA, Colo. – An elite Aurora Police Department fugitive unit arrested 652 wanted men and women last year and is on track for hundreds more this year.

The Fugitive Apprehension and Surveillance Team’s mission is to find violent, gun-toting, suspected criminals. The group goes by the acronym FAST.

Most of the FAST team’s targets have outstanding arrest warrants and have proven difficult to find.

The FAST team is made of up six officers who are masters of surveillance and high-tech tracking.

They also use social media sleuthing and recently found a photo of Davarus Epperson posted online. Epperson was wanted for attempted homicide.

It wasn’t his face in the photo that officers zeroed in on, but where the photo was taken.

An observant FAST officer noticed the background matched that of an apartment patio in Arvada the officer had seen while driving.

More police work revealed it’s where Epperson had a friend living.

Officers discovered Epperson on the property and arrested him.

Often the FAST team locates an inmate and then calls in the Aurora Police Department’s SWAT team to make the arrest.

FAST officers told Contact7 Investigates they don’t deserve credit for the hundreds of arrests last year, instead saying the credit also goes to the rest of the department, including patrol officers and detectives, who build strong cases against criminal suspects.