Another U.S. fugitive busted in Belize
They say lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but for U.S. fugitives hiding out in Belize, the nation’s once blue skies have become filled with electrical storms. Only two days after convicted sexual offender William Lightner was discovered in Chunox Village and returned to Idaho for parole violations, another American criminal on the lam, this time in Belize City, has been busted and will shortly be sent back home to face charges. Fifty-year-old Niles Scott is wanted in Cleveland, Ohio for the rape and kidnapping of a girl under thirteen years old. Released on bail in 2002, he fled Ohio and a federal warrant was issued for his arrest. If Scott looks familiar it’s because he’s been living in Belize City–perhaps as long as several years–and driving a taxi at the Tourism Village. How did he get caught? It seems that several alert viewers were watching the Oprah show Tuesday night when Scott’s photo appeared as part of a report on sexual predators. One of those who recognized the man in the picture and alerted police was Cecil Gill.
Cecil Gill, Tipped Off Police
“Oprah was on, when I clicked the TV on, I saw the fugitives, I immediately recognised one of the guys. I knew him from the Tourist Village because he goes out there, the guy Niles Scott.”
Karla Heusner
“And he was using his right name here in Belize?”
Cecil Gill
“No, he goes by the name of James, James Scott in Belize. After the show, I immediately went to the C.I.B. office and I don’t know the name of the officer that I gave the information to and told him that I was watching the show, I recognised this guy and he’s wanted by the F.B.I.”
Karla Heusner
“Is this someone you were friendly with at the Tourism Village, had he been here a long time?”
Cecil Gill
“Well, we had regular conversations for like over a year. About a year or more.”
Karla Heusner
“Did he tell you anything about his background, where he was from?”
Cecil Gill
“No not really. He said that his mother and father are Belizeans, but he was born in the States. And you know that he was in the military while in the States. That is what he told us.”
“I always watch these programmes and I feel it was my civic duty to…you know. I have kids, I have daughters, you know. You don’t know who will be next when you are dealing with this type of people, so if you know that they are there, it is best to turn them in.”
In her television broadcast Oprah offered a reward of one hundred thousand dollars to anyone who provided information that led to the arrest and conviction of the fugitive sexual offenders profiled in her report. Ironically, Scott was living near the U.S. Embassy… on Goal Lane.
