Traffic Stop Leads to Apprehension of Fugitive Wanted on Child Molestation Charges

By West Seneca (New York) Police Department

An Indiana man wanted by Indiana State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service was taken into custody by the West Seneca (New York) Police Department on July 30. Ofc. Travis Deubell was on I-90 westbound and initiated a traffic stop of a Ford F350 for a cracked windshield and a passenger not wearing a safety belt. The truck was pulling a trailer with a children's carnival ride.

The driver stated he was on his way to the Erie County Fairgrounds but could not produce a driver's license. He could only provide his carnival company ride operator identification card with the name "James Davis." The vehicle was directed to an off-site New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) commercial motor vehicle (CMV) inspection station, where the driver provided a false date of birth. After Ofc. Deubell, NYSDOT Supervising CMV Inspector Ryan Pokojski and NYSDOT CMV Inspector Dave Charles found no record of his identity, further investigation revealed the driver to be Michael Wayne Gordon from Kokomo, Indiana. Gordon was found to have extraditable warrants in Indiana for two Level 1 felony counts of Child Molestation and a Level 5 felony count of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. Gordon was taken into custody and returned to the West Seneca Police Department, where he was cited for several CMV violations and taken to the Erie County Holding Center to await extradition. The CVSA Level I Inspection conducted by the officers found 24 violations, including five imminent hazard violations involving brakes and hours of service.

Subsequently, it was learned that Gordon is NOT an employee of the Erie County Fair or a carnival company ride operator but was hired as an independent contractor to transport the ride to the Erie County Fair only.

Records show Gordon was convicted of child molestation in Indiana in 1994. In April 1998, he was again convicted in a child molestation case and required to register as a sex offender. He was convicted of failure to register as a sex offender in March 2004. According to court records, prosecutors in Miami County, Indiana, filed a child molestation case against Gordon in February 2021. He failed to attend a hearing in March 2023, leading a judge to issue an arrest warrant.

The West Seneca Police Department would like to thank the New York State Department of Transportation and the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance.