Sometimes Deadliest Catch captures more than just crabs.
Joshua Tel Warner, once a greenhorn deckhand on the reality series, was arrested in Illinois Thursday on an Oregon bank robbery warrant. The 23-year-old was wanted by police in Eugene for three bank robberies, one in 2007 and two in 2009.
Ironically, it was Warner's early 2009 appearance aboard Wizard, a king crab fishing boat on Discovery Channel's adrenaline-pumping hit, that led to his identification as the robbery suspect. Prior to the episode, police in Eugene had been unable to pin down a suspect, but as Detective Jeff Donaca explains: "He was such a unique character on the show that a lot of people remembered him. I don't think you can end up on national TV, make a spectacle of yourself and not end up getting caught for three bank robberies."
Warner was pulled over for a routine traffic stop in East Peoria, Ill., and is currently being held on $30,000 bail in Tazewell County Jail.
________
See some of the more legal—and dangerous—action from Deadliest Catch here.