Fugitive wanted in northern Minnesota for murder arrested in California

(FOX 9) - A northern Minnesota fugitive who is suspected in a murder case has been arrested in California after a month-long manhunt.

Becker County authorities say they were informed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections on Tuesday that Michael Dwayne Croud, 40, was in custody in Los Angeles.

Croud was already a fugitive from justice, after failing to check in with his supervisor following his release from prison, when deputies say he killed another man in a shooting last month.

A warrant for second-degree murder accused Croud of opening fire in Pine Point Township, 24 miles northeast of Detroit Lakes, on Sunday, June 25. The victim, 35-year-old David Hanks Jr., was shot multiple times outside an SUV. In the warrant, deputies say they spoke with a woman who witnessed the crime, who said Hanks had been visiting her.

According to the charges, the witness said she had been in the SUV with Hanks when Croud came up and started firing.

Since then, Croud had been on the run, and despite search efforts, deputies had been unable to track him down until the recent arrest.

Becker County Sheriff Todd Glander says authorities are now in the process of extraditing Croud back to Minnesota.