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Fugitive hunt centers in Colorado

Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post

A nationwide manhunt for a fugitive sex offender is centered in Colorado, U.S. marshals said Tuesday.

Robbi Potter, believed to be traveling with a 3-year-old girl and her mother, was spotted at an Ampride gas station in Stratton, on Interstate 70 about 147 miles east of Denver.

“He is a convicted sex offender – the most dangerous kind – committing sex offenses against minors,” said Andrew Deserto, a chief deputy U.S. marshal in Ohio. “We want to get the little girl and want the guy caught and put him where he belongs.”



A surveillance video taken June 2 captured images of a woman attempting to purchase fuel for a 1988 two-tone black and green Chevrolet pickup truck that investigators believe Potter, 27, is driving.

The woman, who investigators believe is Potter’s girlfriend, Candace Watson, 24, was unable to complete the purchase.

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“We are relatively sure they were low on fuel, and sources tell us they were low on money,” said Gerard McCann, coordinator of the U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Location and Apprehension Group in Denver.

Investigators believe that Potter and Watson may be trying to get to Arizona, where Watson used to live.

The pair are traveling with Watson’s daughter, Haylee Elizabeth Jade Donathan.

Potter is wanted on both state and federal warrants for parole violations as well as escape for walking away from a halfway house for sex offenders in Mansfield, Ohio, on May 28, three days after he was released from prison.

In December 2006, Potter was sentenced to three years in prison for two counts of sexual battery. According to Richland County, Ohio, sheriff’s Capt. Eric Bosko, the victims in the case were 10 and 11 years old.

Potter is a Tier III sex offender, Ohio’s most serious designation.

Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com

$10,000 reward offered

The U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Robbi Potter’s arrest. Anyone with information should call the toll-free hotline, 866-4WANTED. Callers may remain anonymous.

Investigators believe Potter is driving a 1988 Chevrolet pickup truck that is black and green. It may have Ohio license plates ENS9729, although news accounts report that Candace Watson has been known to switch plates on vehicles.


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