Thompson apprehended in Florida
Jennifer Potash
Errol Thompson was arrested Monday in Florida, five months after allegedly shooting his wife as she arrived for work in the parking lot of the Merwick unit of The Medical Center at Princeton on Bayard Lane.
Mr. Thompson was charged with public intoxication Saturday night in St. Petersburg after he threatened to “blow up” the home of a woman, identified by Florida authorities as his girlfriend, according to an announcement by Mercer County Prosecutor Daniel G. Giaquinto and U.S. Marshall Glenn D. Cunningham.
“We appreciated the continued efforts of all law enforcement agencies involved which led to the safe capture of a fugitive who was considered armed and dangerous and who had left the state and fled to St. Petersburg,” Mr. Giaquinto said in a statement.
After giving St. Petersburg police an alias of Derrick Johnson, Mr. Thompson spent the night in jail but was released, said Emily J. Hornaday, a spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office
After a fingerprint check confirmed Mr. Thompson’s identity, he was arrested at his job as a dishwasher at a Jamaican restaurant in St. Petersburg at 1:30 p.m. by members of the Florida Fugitive Investigative Strike Team, Mr. Giaquinto said.
When law enforcement officers approached Mr. Thompson, he allegedly scuffled with police and was charged with resisting arrest.
He was being held without bail at the Pinellas County Jail in Florida.
Police say Mr. Thompson, 50, with a last known address of Country Lane, Ewing Township, shot Dorothy Thompson, 42, three times as she arrived to work at the Merwick Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Sub-acute Care unit on the morning of Oct. 18 with a male friend, Shermon Jefferson, 26, of Trenton. Mr. Thompson allegedly shot at, but did not injure, Mr. Jefferson, a physical therapy aide at Merwick. Ms. Thompson has since recovered, Ms. Hornaday said.
After shooting his wife, Mr. Thompson fled from the parking lot in his red Acura Integra, police said. The abandoned sports car was found two days later in Trenton.
Florida law enforcement officials notified Princeton Borough Police Chief Thomas Michaud on Monday morning that Mr. Thompson would be arrested, the chief said.
“I’m very pleased with the Florida and the local assistance in locating Mr. Thompson,” Chief Michaud said.
The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office formed a task force of federal, state, county and local law enforcement officials in an effort to apprehend Mr. Thompson, but it was disbanded after a week when leads to his whereabouts ceased, police said.
After the task force’s efforts were unsuccessful in locating Mr. Thompson, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, Ms. Hornaday said. The Central New Jersey Fugitive Task Force, of which the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office is a member, forwarded leads to the Florida strike team, which led to Mr. Thompson’s arrest, Mr. Giaquinto said.
Mr. Thompson is believed to have been living under an assumed name in St. Petersburg and working at several part-time jobs, Ms. Hornaday said.
He was indicted March 6 in Mercer County Superior Court on a 19-count indictment resulting from the attacks to Ms. Thompson and Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Giaquinto said.
If convicted on the indictment, which included two counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault, as well as weapons offenses, he could be sentenced to at least 40 years in prison, Mr. Giaquinto said.
It was not known Monday whether Mr. Thompson would waive his right to an extradition hearing, which would hasten his return to Mercer County, or whether an extradition hearing would be conducted in Florida, Mr. Giaquinto said.
At the time of the October incident, law enforcement officials said, Mr. Thompson was awaiting sentencing for making terroristic threats against his wife in May 1998. Mr. Thompson agreed to plead guilty to making terroristic threats in the third degree. He had been free on $20,000 cash bail, which he posted in June 1998, Ms. Hornaday said.