Most wanted fugitive arrives in S Fla

Felipe Torrealba wanted in connection with murder of Kris Smalls in Weston

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – One of the U.S. Marshals most wanted fugitives is now in South Florida after he was arrested on the west coast of the state.

Felipe Torrealba was arrested in Lee County. He arrived at the Broward County jail late Thursday and was booked on multiple charges of drug trafficking and possession, resisting arrest, and aggravated assault. Torrealba is being held on no bond.

The U.S. Marshals Regional Task Force tracked Torrealba, 26, to a townhouse outside Fort Myers. Inside the townhouse, agents found two handguns, about $15,000 in cash, a rental vehicle with Texas license plates, cocaine and a pair of binoculars, a wig and a fake driver's license in which he is seen wearing the fake wig, authorities said.

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Officials said Torrealba was hospitalized with minor cuts and bruises. He had been on the U.S. Marshals' 15 Most Wanted list since October.

"I was afraid of a confrontation. I know that a lot of police agencies, particularly ones in Metro Dade, were very hot to get him and I was afraid it would be an armed confrontation and somebody would get hurt or killed and, I'm happy that at least that did not occur," said Jim Lewis, Torrealba's attorney.

Torrealba's wife Jessica was among those who wanted him to surrender.

"I want him alive. We have two beautiful children," she said.

Torrealba was on the run for more than a year and has eluded law enforcement three times, authorities said. He was wanted in connection with the murder of Kris Smalls in Weston. Smalls was reported missing March 18, and his body was found in his SUV about a week later.

Earlier in the year, police say Torrealba was involved in a shootout with officers in Sweetwater. He told Local 10 Crime Specialist John Turchin he wasn't armed at the time, and was hit in the ear by a bullet.