Dec 21, 2008 3:04 pm US/Central
Chicago Cops Nab 'America's Most Wanted' Fugitive
No Bail For Fugitive
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
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Sarah Jo Pender
Chicago Police Department
A judge ordered an Indiana woman arrested by Chicago Police less than two hours after she was featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted" held without bail Sunday.
Foster and Rogers Park police district tactical officers arrested Sarah Jo Pender without incident Saturday in the 2200 block of West Farwell Avenue, according to a Chicago Police release.
Pender, 29, of Indiana, was featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted," which listed her as one of their "Top 10 Fugitives," police said.
Less than two hours after the show aired, a tipster called Chicago Police after recognizing Pender's face and gave authorities her exact location. Police acted on the tip and caught Pender as she was packing her bags and preparing to leave, according to the show's Web site.
America's Most Wanted said Pender was living in a "drug-infested neighborhood" under the fake name "Ashley Thompson."
After some prodding, the fugitive finally admitted to police she was Sarah Pender, America's Most Wanted said. She was processed in accordance with the warrant issued for her arrest, police said.
On Sunday, Cook County Judge Donald Panarese ordered Pender held without bond, according to a court spokesperson.
Pender and her boyfriend, Richard Hull, were convicted of shooting their two roommates with a shotgun and dumped the bodies in an Indianapolis dumpster in 2000, according to America's Most Wanted.
The two were captured by police in Noblesville, Ind., and were sentenced in Marion County in 2002. Pender was serving a maximum 110-year sentence and Hull is serving a 75-year sentence, America's Most Wanted said.
While in the Rockville Correctional Facility, Pender allegedly planned and executed her escape by establishing a relationship with a prison guard and another inmate, police said.
According to America's Most Wanted, Rockville Correctional Facility Officer Scott A. Spitler, a five-year veteran of the prison, allegedly drove Pender out of the facility after hiding her in the back of his department van.
Spitler faces charges of assisting a criminal, official misconduct, sexual misconduct and trafficking with an inmate, America's Most Wanted said.
Until her capture, Pender had been a fugitive since Aug. 2008.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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