Police arrested a man on the run from Florida authorities since 2001 living at a marina in Mission Bay.
Morris Larue Carlton, 49, is wanted for violating the conditions of his probation for failing to register as a sex offender in Volusia County, Florida, San Diego County sheriffs said.
Carlton was arrested Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 11 a.m. at Seaforth Marina in Mission Bay, where he had been reportedly been living for several years, San Diego County Sheriff Sgt. Russ Moore said.
Carlton had been wanted in Florida for the six years because of an outstanding felony warrant for allegedly committing lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 16 and failing to register as a sex offender, Moore said.
The Sheriff’s department received an anonymous tip from Crime Stoppers that led officers to believe Carlton had been wanted on embezzlement charges in Florida. But when sheriffs investigated the tip, they discovered Carlton was a sex offender on the run. Sheriffs were immediately dispatched to arrest the suspect, Moore said.
“The fact that he was a child molester on the run, especially with the high-profile ones, once you molest a kid you’re not going to stop,” Moore said.
A team of about three plain clothes sheriffs arrested Carlton near his boat after Carlton identified himself.
Carlton was taken to San Diego Central Jail for holding until his extradition to Florida Monday, Dec. 3.
Convicted of his crime in 1993, Carlton had been placed under house arrest for two years as part of his probation, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
After failing to register as a sex offender in May 2001, he disappeared.
Although it is unclear when Carlton arrived in San Diego, Seaforth Marina Dock Master Bob Buckman said he occasionally greeted the fugitive, who had been renting a slip at the marina for at least a year.
“I just knew him as a tenant,” Buckman said “[He was] a nice person to talk to and say hello,”
Carlton may have been living on the boat for more than the 90 days a year allowed by the marina, Buckman said.
If nobody claims Carlton’s 30-foot Rawson sailboat, marina owners would be able to put a lien on the vessel to recover the cost for unpaid rent ” about $380 a month, Buckman said.
Although the San Diego County Sheriffs said Carlton was dangerous, no victims from San Diego County have come forward.