Texas Fugitive Sweep Nets Three Most Wanted Sex Offenders in One Week

Three High-Profile Fugitives Taken Off the Streets

Three of Texas' 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders were arrested last week in separate operations across the state, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The coordinated captures — stretching from a border crossing in South Texas to a Houston neighborhood to a Plano apartment complex — underscore the reach of multi-agency law enforcement efforts and the role that public tips play in tracking down the state's most dangerous fugitives.

Authorities captured Eduardo Fuentes in Hidalgo, Kenneth Patterson in Plano, and Leroy Lewis Jr. in Houston. Each arrest involved a different combination of state, local, and federal agencies working in tandem — and each suspect carried a deeply troubling criminal history.

The Arrests: From the Border to the Bayou City

Eduardo Quinones Fuentes, 32, a documented Tango Valluco gang member who had absconded to Mexico, was taken into custody by U.S. law enforcement authorities at the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge in Hidalgo, Texas, on June 22. Since 2016, Fuentes has been convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault, assault, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and human smuggling — with the sexual assault involving a 29-year-old female victim. He had been wanted since October 2025 on warrants for a parole violation and obstruction, along with a November 2025 Hidalgo County warrant for failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements.

Kenneth Wayne Patterson, 64, was taken into custody in Plano on June 24, after DPS Special Agents and Plano Police Department officers, along with members of the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force, located and arrested him at an apartment complex. Patterson had been wanted since December 2025 after a Dallas County warrant was issued for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements — a pattern with roots going back to 1989, when he was convicted of sexual assault of a child following an incident with an 8-year-old girl. DPS said he has a history of failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements.

Leroy Lewis Jr., 53, was arrested June 22 at a residence in south Houston, in an operation involving DPS special agents assigned to the Texas Anti-Gang Center, the Harris County Sheriff's Office Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, the Houston Police Department Southeast Crime Suppression Team, and the Office of the Attorney General's Fugitive Apprehension Unit. He was previously convicted of murder, aggravated robbery, and aggravated kidnapping. In 2012, he was paroled from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and required to register as a sex offender.

Tips From the Public Made a Difference

A Texas Crime Stoppers reward will be paid for the arrest of Kenneth Patterson — a direct result of a citizen tip that helped law enforcement close in on his location. The public's role in these captures is not incidental; it is central to how Texas tracks down its most elusive offenders.

All tips are anonymous, regardless of how they are submitted, and tipsters are provided a tip number instead of using a name. To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities using one of three methods: calling the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be submitted through the DPS website or via Facebook.

A Broader Push to Clear the Most Wanted Lists

So far in 2026, DPS and other agencies have arrested 44 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders, and Criminal Illegal Immigrants, including 32 sex offenders and eight gang members — with $61,500 in rewards being paid for tips that yielded arrests. That pace reflects a sustained, statewide commitment to holding the most dangerous offenders accountable, even when they flee across state or international borders.

The three arrests last week demonstrate that no fugitive — whether hiding in a Houston neighborhood, a Plano apartment, or across the Mexican border — is beyond the reach of coordinated law enforcement. With nearly half the year still remaining, Texas authorities show no signs of slowing down their pursuit of those who remain on the state's most wanted lists.