This time he managed to evade the law for barely 24 hours.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was arrested in Colorado late Thursday after he failed to show up for a court appearance related to a felony theft conviction.
FBI agents took Hsu into custody at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., said FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler.
Hsu had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to turn over his passport and ask a judge to cut in half the $2 million bail he posted last week when he turned himself in after spending 15 years on the lam from a felony theft conviction.
Instead, Hsu failed to show up at the bail reduction hearing and a judge issued a new arrest warrant for him.
California Attorney General spokesman Gareth Lacy said Hsu's lawyers told prosecutors Hsu arrived by charter jet at the Oakland airport about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday local time and then wasn't heard from again.
When it became apparent that Hsu had fled the state, California authorities sought the assistance of the FBI, whose agents arrested him Thursday night on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, Schadler said.
Once he is returned to state custody, the federal charges will be dismissed, Schadler said.
From NBC11, more details:
FBI sources told NBC11's Jean Elle they arrested Norman Hsu in Grand Junction Colorado Thursday night.
Hsu was arrested at St. Marys Hospital, according to NBC11.
...The Grand Junction police department and the Mesa County Sheriff office assisted in the arrest.
Hsu has not been transferred to the Mesa County lock up, according NBC11.
It is not clear why Hsu was at a hospital.
Hsu went to the hospital after he got sick while traveling on the California Zephyr train, the Mercury News reported.
I think Hsu was picked up in Colorado because he wanted to be caught.
If you're a fugitive, you don't go to a hospital.
Did Hsu decide he didn't want to live the fugitive life?
Was he pressured by Democrats, Dem candidates, or some of their shadowy campaign operatives to give himself up?
Was it determined that it would be better to have him in custody than to let the speculation about the mysterious Hsu spiral out of control?
Whatever, it seems like there was a lot of indecision about the best way to handle Hsu-gate.
I think the problem is there are no good options for Hsu and his friends -- Hillary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy, Al Franken, Ed Rendell, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
This story isn't over. It's just beginning.
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More details here.
This is funny.
The growing flap over Hsu's contributions prompted Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd to release a statement Thursday vowing "to refuse to accept or possess campaign contributions raised, solicited, or delivered by fugitives from justice."
What an impressive display of integrity!
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UPDATE:
As more information is becoming available, it's clear that Hsu didn't initiate his medical care.
Amtrak personnel called paramedics.
More information:
Hsu was listed in fair condition, hospital vice president Dan Prinster said in a telephone interview. He declined to provide details of Hsu's ailment, other than to say that Hsu "was delirious (when he arrived) and had identification."
FBI agents arrived at the hospital about 9 p.m. EDT Thursday, Prinster said, adding he didn't know how authorities learned of Hsu's whereabouts. "All I know is I got a call," he said.
Hsu was traveling on an Amtrak train Thursday when he became ill. An ambulance was called when the train stopped in Grand Junction and he was taken to St. Mary's.
Mesa County Sheriff's Officer Heather Benjamin said that under normal procedure, Hsu would be booked into the local jail when he is released from the hospital.
And from the San Francisco Chronicle:
Authorities said Hsu was taken into custody at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction at 7 p.m. local time. He had been on the lam for almost two days after failing to appear in a Redwood City courtroom Wednesday to surrender his passport.
Hsu was taken off a passenger train at the Grand Junction train station earlier in the day by paramedics who requested a backboard to move him, said Sgt. Lonnie Chavez with the Grand Junction Police Department.
Authorities received a request for medical assistance at the train station at about 11:15 a.m., but the exact nature of Hsu's condition was unclear, Chavez said.
Hsu was traveling on an Amtrak train when he became ill, and Amtrak personnel called an ambulance when the train stopped in Grand Junction, said Pete Smarr, a nursing supervisor at St. Mary’s Hospital. Hsu was listed in fair condition early Friday, but Smarr declined to comment on the nature of Hsu's illness or a timetable for his release from the hospital.
The plot thickens....
This is all so strange.
It calls for a film by Oliver Stone.
Speculation is that Hsu may have attempted suicide.
If a failed suicide attempt is, in fact, Hsu's "ailment," he certainly isn't doing the Dems any favors.
A dead or almost dead Hsu is worse than a fugitive Hsu.
This really looks bad for Hillary Clinton.
It dredges up all those old conspiracy theories about the Clinton era body count.
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Witness accounts:
Fugitive political fundraiser Norman Hsu was behaving erratically as he fled the Bay Area on Amtrak's California Zephyr, at one point stripping off his shirt and shoes, before paramedics were called to take him off the train in western Colorado, passengers said Friday.
...Passengers interviewed Friday when the Zephyr reached its final destination of Chicago said it appeared that something was wrong with Hsu.
Alberto Dee, 21, who boarded the train in Truckee, said Hsu "freaked out" when Amtrak personnel approached, and was roaming a train car "without shoes and no shirt. ... I thought he had a suitcase full of crack or meth."
Another passenger disembarking in Chicago, who declined to give his name, said Hsu appeared disoriented and was having trouble opening a door on the train. Several other passengers said they were told Hsu was behaving oddly but did not witness it themselves.
...Dan Roberts, 57, a furniture maker from Grand Junction, said Hsu had been sitting up on a stretcher on the station platform and appeared to be moving.
"We just figured he had a heart attack or something," said his wife, Cheryl Roberts, 52, a nurse.
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