They call it Operation Rolling Thunder, a coalition of police agencies to blitz criminals in New York state. The arrests, announced at a news conference Tuesday, were part of the operation's third phase, which targeted area fugitives over five days starting on March 21.

The initiative combines efforts of local and State Police with federal law enforcement through the United States Marshals Service to track down criminals, specifically those with active arrest warrants on file.

Gov. George Pataki said that if criminals don't care about jurisdictional boundaries, then law enforcement must work together to transcend city, county and state lines.

"Criminals don't know geographic boundaries," said Pataki. "(Rolling Thunder) is another tool. We don't want you in this state if you're not ready to obey the law and respect the rights of others."

Rensselaer County District Attorney Patricia DeAngelis highlighted one name on her list: John K. Cumo, a level 3 sex offender who had allegedly vanished from the radar in the county.

Cumo, now 24, was convicted in 2000 of second-degree rape for having sex with two girls, ages 13 and 14, and was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison.

His subsequent failure to register his new address generated two warrants with the Troy Police Department, and now Cumo is taking up residence in the Rensselaer County jail.

"I want to applaud these guys, because you want to know how many children you've saved from abuse? Thank you," DeAngelis said to the police in attendance at the news conference.

She also noted the arrest of Anthony Colaruotolo as a particularly risky situation. Colaruotolo, 35, was wanted in Troy for allegedly selling crack. He was located and arrested as part of Rolling Thunder, and police seized two loaded 12-gauge shotguns in addition to drugs, said DeAngelis.

Police agencies involved in the Capital District phase of Operation Rolling Thunder include: the U.S. Marshal Service, the New York State Police, the state Division of Parole, Albany, Schenectady and Rensselaer county sheriffs and municipal police departments from Albany, Cohoes, Colonie, Troy, Guilderland, Watervliet and Schenectady.

The Albany, Schenectady and Rensselaer county district attorneys, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District and the Rensselaer County Department of Social Services also contributed.

This is cache, read story here