Elusive Illinois Fugitive Can’t Run From the U.S. Marshals

Bangor, ME – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Maine Violent Offender Task Force (MVOTF), announces the arrest of Cortez Strong, 25, of Illinois, after a brief foot pursuit. Strong was being sought by Illinois authorities on a warrant issued for Criminal Sexual Assault in February 2020.

According to Maine authorities, Strong is alleged to have eluded police via high-speed vehicle pursuits on three separate occasions earlier this month in Maine. Local authorities contacted the U.S. Marshals Service Maine Violent Offender Task Force (MVOTF) for assistance and they began their investigation into Strong. It was then when it was discovered that Strong was a fugitive out of Illinois and was discovered to be in Maine.

The U.S. Marshals Service Investigators believed that Strong was in the Bangor, Maine area. The Task Force developed information on his whereabouts, which led them to an address in Bangor, ME. Task Force personnel identified Strong as a passenger in a vehicle departing from that address. As U.S. Marshals Service personnel went to apprehend Strong, he fled the vehicle on foot and was subsequently apprehended by U.S. Marshals Service Task Force Personnel after a brief foot pursuit. Strong is charged as a Fugitive from Justice and will be arraigned in Maine pending his extradition back to Illinois.

The U.S. Marshals Service Maine Violent Offender Task Force was assisted by the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, Maine State Police, and the Bangor Police Department. The U.S. Marshals Service Maine Violent Offender Task Force is comprised of members of the U.S Marshals Service, Maine State Police, Maine Department of Corrections, Biddeford Police Department, and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.