NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal multi-agency manhunt came to an end Tuesday morning after a fugitive wanted in Southern Ohio for more than four years was tracked down and arrested outside a Nashville business, where she had been living under a false identity.
Rishonda Williams, 36, was apprehended without incident at approximately 8:30 a.m. at a business on Dickerson Pike in Nashville by the U.S. Marshals Middle Tennessee Fugitive Task Force.
A Four-Year Evading Tactics
According to a media release issued by Deputy U.S. Marshals Christian Marrero, Williams had been on the run since February 1, 2022. She was originally wanted in Scioto County, Ohio, after failing to appear at a mandatory court hearing regarding felony charges of heroin possession and trafficking.
The breakthrough in the multi-year cold case came following joint investigative work between two U.S. Marshals divisions. Information initially developed by the Northern District of Ohio was passed along as a collateral lead to the Southern District of Ohio and counterparts in Tennessee.
Extensive surveillance and intelligence gathering by the Middle Tennessee Task Force eventually revealed that Williams had relocated to Clarksville, Tennessee, where she had been successfully evading law enforcement by operating under the alias “Brittani Gipson.”
Awaiting Extradition
Following her smooth arrest on Tuesday, Williams was processed and transported to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office jail. She remains held in custody there without bond while she awaits formal extradition proceedings to face her pending drug trafficking charges back in Scioto County.
The successful capture highlighted the coordinated reach of the Middle Tennessee Fugitive Task Force, a heavily integrated, multi-agency team that includes:
- Deputy U.S. Marshals
- Sheriff’s Deputies from Putnam, Rutherford, Sumner, and Williamson counties
- Officers from Metro Nashville and Murfreesboro Police Departments
- Federal agents from the ATF and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- Special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the Tennessee Department of Correction
- State troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol
“The U.S. Marshals Service, working alongside federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, remains committed to locating and apprehending fugitives and violent offenders,” the agency noted in a statement.
