Menlo Park Police Arrest Man, End Nine Month Man Hunt

Menlo Park Police arrested a man accused of trafficking drugs Monday in San Jose, California, after hunting him for more than nine months.

John Sellers, 48, was living in East Palo Alto when officials first arrested him for possession of methamphetamines with intent to distribute in September 2012, according to Commander Eric Cowans, who worked on the case for The Menlo Park Police Special Operations Division. 

The special ops team was scrutinizing multiple people suspected of trafficking drugs that were being sold in and near Menlo Park in conjunction with the FBI's Safe Streets Program.

Cowans worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s San Francisco office to identify the Sellers home as a place where methamphetamines were being trafficked. A search warrant for the home was issued, which led to the arrest of Sellers, and the confiscation of methamphetamine and a shotgun. 

Cowans declined to disclose the volume of narcotics Sellers had and is accused of trafficking.  Sellers was on probation at the time. Being in possession of methamphetamines with intent to distribute while on parole is a felony. Possession of a firearm while on parole is also a felony.

After Sellers was arrested, he was released “pending investigation.” Officers worked for months to collect enough evidence to indict him.  In November 2012, Sellers was indicted in federal court in San Francisco, triggering the release of a “No Bail” warrant for his arrest. 

Sellers had absconded from justice ever since, Cowans told Patch.

On Monday, Sellers was spotted in the 6200 block of Wilma Street in Newark, traveling in the passenger seat of a car.  Detectives and special agents followed the car until it stopped at a gas station in San Jose.  Officers determined it was him based upon a positive visual identification, arrested him and booked him into San Mateo County Jail.  

On Tuesday, he was sent to the San Francisco Federal Building.  He is now in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s office.