U.S. Marshals, Tucson Police Make 20 Arrests During Operation Safe Summer

Tucson, AZ - The U.S. Marshals Service-led WANTED Violent Offender Task Force partnered with the Tucson Police Department (TPD) to conduct Operation Safe Summer, a targeted enforcement initiative focused on verifying sex offender registration compliance, educating registered offenders about their legal obligations, and arresting fugitives and non-compliant offenders.

Conducted from May 1 through July 14, the operation focused primarily on ensuring that previously convicted sex offenders maintained current and accurate address information following recent changes to Arizona law. Investigators targeted 38 individuals in Tucson who had previously been notified of the changes but had not updated their required registration information.

Investigators completed 38 compliance checks and determined that 20 individuals were non-compliant. The operation resulted in 20 arrests: two on federal charges, 17 on state charges, and one unrelated fugitive arrest.

“Fugitives and non-compliant offenders cannot hide behind state lines or jurisdictional boundaries,” said U.S. Marshal Van Bayless. “The success of Operation Safe Summer directly reflects the power of our federal, state, and local partnerships. This joint operation highlights the unwavering commitment of law enforcement agencies working hand-in-hand to locate fugitives, enforce compliance, and ensure those who threaten our communities are safely brought into custody.”

"The success of Operation Safe Summer is a testament to the collaboration we share with the United States Marshals Service, for which we are grateful,” said TPD spokesperson James Horton. “The Tucson Police Department remains committed to public safety and protecting our most vulnerable populations."

Throughout the operation, U.S. Marshals personnel and detectives from the Tucson Police Department’s Sex Offender Registration and Tracking (SORT) Unit worked side by side to contact registered offenders, assess their compliance, and take appropriate enforcement action. Individuals determined to be absconders or otherwise non-compliant were arrested and transported to the Pima County Jail. The joint effort also identified individuals potentially subject to federal prosecution for failing to register as sex offenders under 18 U.S.C. § 2250.

Among those arrested was Edwin Van Kirk Jr., 55, a convicted sex offender wanted on a federal warrant for violating the conditions of his supervised release following a child pornography conviction. Van Kirk was evicted from his registered Tucson residence in March but failed to report his new address or whereabouts, leaving him unaccounted for in the community.

U.S. Marshals tracked Van Kirk to the Roy Laos Transit Center on West Irvington Road in Tucson, where he was safely taken into custody. On July 22, a federal grand jury indicted him on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

In a separate investigation conducted during the operation, task force members arrested Malik Simmons, 33, an out-of-state fugitive wanted by the Chicago Police Department on a full extradition warrant for aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Investigators determined that Simmons had fled Illinois and relocated to Tucson.

Working closely with Chicago investigators, task force members tracked Simmons to a residential neighborhood in Tucson’s Midvale Park area, established surveillance, positively identified him, and took him into custody without incident. Simmons was booked into the Pima County Jail pending extradition to Illinois to face the charge against him.

The Arizona WANTED Violent Offender Task Force is a U.S. Marshals Service led multi-jurisdictional fugitive apprehension unit responsible for more than 1748 arrests in the last year. The task force is comprised of 22 agencies bringing together the resources of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate and arrest the community’s most violent offenders and sexual predators.