Jahson Marryshow’s four-year run as Ulster County’s most wanted fugitive ended on the afternoon of Sunday, September 14 in Eugene, Ore. when local police and U.S. Marshals caught up to him while he was playing Ultimate Frisbee in a city park.
“We’re glad to have him in custody,” said Ulster County Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum of the arrest. “We’re looking forward to getting him back here and getting this adjudicated.”
The 32-year-old former Woodstock resident is wanted for the June 30, 2010 robbery of a Bank of America branch on Mill Hill Road in Woodstock. Police believe Marryshow stole a car from Yerry Hill Road the morning of the robbery. A few hours later, police believe, he set fire to a ramshackle barn at 3651 Route 212 in Lake Hill. Cops think the fire was set to draw authorities away from the center of town where just after 9 a.m. he entered the bank disguised with ski goggles and a bandana and armed with a semi-automatic handgun. Marryshow allegedly menaced tellers with the gun before fleeing with, according to unconfirmed accounts, upwards of $20,000 in cash. The car was later found abandoned on Tanglewood Drive in Hurley two miles from the bank and not far from Marryshow’s residence on Witchtree Road.
While police investigated the robbery, Marryshow remained in town. On September 26, 2010, cops say he was involved in a fight at the Cumberland Farms store on Mill Hill Road, just across the parking lot from the bank he allegedly robbed. The dispute led to an arrest warrant for misdemeanor assault.
On October 10, 2010, two Woodstock cops spotted and detained him at Andy Lee Field. But before they could get the cuffs on, Marryshow broke free and escaped through the woods, then evaded a manhunt that included a state police helicopter, K-9 units and officers from multiple agencies. It would be the last official contact between Marryshow and local law enforcement until this week.
Woodstock Police Chief Clayton Keefe said that, at the time, Marryshow was already a “person of interest” in the bank heist when he fled the cops at Andy Lee Field. But he would not be publicly identified as a suspect until November 2010, when an Ulster County grand jury handed up an indictment charging Marryshow with first-degree robbery, third-degree arson and fourth-degree grand larceny, all felonies.
By that time, Marryshow had fled Woodstock. He has remained atop the Ulster County Sheriff’s “most wanted” list ever since. In the months after Marryshow fled Woodstock, cops followed leads to New York City and New Orleans. The case was even featured on the A&E documentary series “Manhunters.” Keefe said that Marryshow appeared to be on his own in his fugitive existence and that there was no evidence that he received help or financial support from family or friends while on the run.
“Over the years [police] checked out different locations, different leads,” said Keefe. “But we were never able to confirm anything.”
Frisbee tournament
The end of Marryshow’s fugitive trail came around 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 14 when a squad of 15 plainclothes Eugene cops and U.S. Marshals closed in on him as he played in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in a city park. According to an interview with EPD Sgt. Wayne Dorman, the department received an anonymous tip late last week that Marryshow — who’d been living in the city under his own name and working for a local tree service — was a wanted fugitive from New York. Dorman said the department contacted its Ulster County counterparts for background on Marryshow and U.S. Marshals for assistance in tracking him down. The assignment was given to the EPD’s newly created Street Crimes Team. Dorman said that based on Marryshow’s record of armed violence and fleeing from law enforcement, cops proceeded with caution as they tracked his whereabouts.
“With his record and the way he escaped custody like that we wanted to be sure we had the resources to get him into custody safely,” said Dorman.
On September 14, cops learned Marryshow was playing in an Ultimate Frisbee league which had a game scheduled that day. Police, thinking Marryshow was unlikely to be armed while on the playing field, opted to take him into custody there. Dorman said 15 cops and marshals in civilian clothes went to the park and, from a distance identified Marryshow. Then, he said, officers gradually moved in closer before identifying themselves and grabbing the fugitive.
“He took a step initially, like he was going to run,” said Dorman. “Then he saw how many people were there and gave up.”
Dorman said that Marryshow did not have any identification, but that he readily admitted his identity and fugitive status. He was booked into the Lane County Jail on a fugitive bond and remains there pending extradition proceedings.
Join the family! 
