Manassas Journal Messenger | Murder suspect arrested in Florida
Anthony Dale Crawford, sought by Charlottesville authorities in his wife’s killing, was arrested Friday evening in Jacksonville, Fla.
The 45-year-old Manassas resident was waiting for money to be wired to a Western Union office in Jacksonville at 5:30 p.m. when officers from the city Sheriff’s Office arrested him.
They pulled him over in the maroon 2004 Hyundai Sonata that belonged to his wife, according to authorities.
Crawford gave himself up without incident, Jacksonville Sgt. Derrick Lewis said, and had not asked for a lawyer as he was interviewed by detectives more than an hour after the arrest.
Sarah Louise Crawford, 33, of 10204 Flowerree Lane in Manassas, was discovered shot dead Monday at the Quality Inn on Emmet Street.
Her estranged husband has been charged with first-degree murder, abduction, grand larceny and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Anthony Crawford will stay in the Duval County jail as the extradition process begins Monday. Lewis said he expects Crawford will be back in Virginia by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, Charlottesville police were breathing a sigh of relief.
“He’s been the baddest one that’s been around here for a while,” Sgt. Richard L. Hudson Jr. said. “I’m just happy they arrested him.”
Charlottesville police notified Jacksonville authorities around 3 p.m. that Crawford was expecting a Western Union wire there, Lewis said, declining to say who was sending the money. Until then, Florida police were unaware Crawford was wanted in Virginia, he added.
There were no weapons on Crawford’s person, but the car had not yet been searched Friday night, Lewis said.
Sarah Crawford had obtained a protective order against her husband Nov. 1, citing multiple examples of abuse, including death threats, before and during their five-year marriage.
She was last seen Nov. 18 and talked to her mother by cell phone the next day, according to court papers. She was found shot in the chest in the Quality Inn room, although no one there reported hearing a gunshot.
In 1992, Anthony Crawford was acquitted of marital rape in Columbia, S.C., after his previous wife pressed charges.