A man who had been on the run for three decades, evading authorities for his crime of rape, was finally apprehended by Iowa police officers after they stopped him for not having a rear reflector on his bicycle. The incident took place in West Des Moines on June 26th and was caught on bodycam footage which reveals that the arresting officer initially let George Hartleroad go but then started questioning him again, growing suspicious of his evasive answers.
The suspect provided a fake name and social security number to the officer, identifying himself as “Gregory Stallins.” He claimed to be homeless and had been living in Iowa since 1991, without a driver’s license on his person. The officer began to grow suspicious of Hartleroad’s story after discovering that the name he provided was actually dead, according to WCCI.
In an exchange caught on camera, the officer is heard questioning Hartleroad about his false identity. Alright brother, time to be honest with me, OK? So the info you give me comes back to a dead guy. Gregory Stallins is dead,” he asks. Despite this revelation, Hartleroad insisted that he was not dead but rather still alive and using the name of the deceased man.
At one point during their conversation, police asked him to remove his hat so they could snap a photo to run through a facial recognition program, which ultimately led to him confessing his true identity as George Hartleroad, the fugitive rapist wanted by authorities in Wisconsin since 1994 when he escaped from a halfway house.
Hartleroad was convicted of rape in 1983 and served five years in prison before going on the run, according to Wisconsin records. Despite being caught, Hartleroad expressed his intention to continue evading law enforcement upon his release from custody. I will jump again as soon as they turn me loose,” he told officers while being taken into their custody.
He is now in the custody of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections after being transported across state lines following his arrest in Iowa.
