‘Fugitive of the Week’ Arrested Trying to Exchange Stolen Goods in a Providence Mall

Concord, NH – Last night, officers from the Providence, RI Police Department were investigating a report of someone trying to exchange stolen merchandise at a store in the Providence Mall. At the scene, “Fugitive of the Week,” Christopher Rabbia, 49, was located and arrested after providing one of his many aliases of Christopher Mirabella to officers.

Rabbia was being sought as the “Fugitive of the Week” based on a federal arrest warrant issued out of U.S. District Court in NH for violations of supervised release. Christopher Rabbia was on supervised release due to his original conviction for aggravated identity theft. While a fugitive since January 7, 2015, Rabbia is suspected in multiple car thefts from car dealerships throughout New England. Rabbia is currently being held by the Providence Police Department on a charge of receiving stolen property. Once this local charge is addressed, Rabbia will be turned over to the other law enforcement agencies with outstanding arrest warrants and finally the U.S. Marshals on the supervised release violation warrant. .

As part of the U.S. Marshals fugitive investigation, Rabbia had been featured as the “Fugitive of the Week” on January 15, 2015. The “Fugitive of the Week” is broadcast on WTPL-FM, WMUR-TV, The Union Leader, The Nashua Telegraph, The Patch, Foster’s Daily Democrat, Manchester Ink Link and is prominently featured on the internet. The “Fugitive of the Week” continues to be very successful tool that has resulted in the location and arrest of numerous fugitives since its implementation in 2007.

Since the inception of the New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force in 2002, these partnerships have resulted in over 5,869 arrests (Updated as of 12/4/2014). These arrests have ranged in seriousness from murder, assault, unregistered sex offenders, probation and parole violations and numerous other serious offenses. Nationally the United States Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, 7 regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.