A Karaoke-Loving Fugitive Got Busted Before He Could Sing

Police arrested a fugitive at a karaoke bar north of Boston over the weekend after a local DJ put together a DIY sting operation straight out of a weird episode of To Catch a Predator, ABC affiliate WMUR 9 reports.

Ronald Duby Jr. had been running from the cops since he ditched a mandated court appearance for failing to register as a sex offender, according to the US Marshals Service. In a bid to give the case some traction, the service named Duby its "fugitive of the week" last week and plastered his name and mugshot in newspapers, broadcasts, and blogs across northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

That's how Bernie Del Llano, a local DJ who runs a karaoke night in the area, first spotted Duby.

"One of my friends said, 'Listen, I think this guy has been to some of our karaoke shows. Be on the lookout,'" Del Llano told WMUR. "It was kind of funny."

But then Duby reportedly contacted Del Llano—even though the two had never met—and sent him a Facebook message asking about the next time he might get a chance to show off his pipes. According to the Lowell Sun, Duby told the DJ he wanted to attend one of Del Llano's karaoke event, but wasn't able to go to New Hampshire for reasons he did not disclose.

"I was like, 'You know what? We're going to have a karaoke contest here [in Massachusetts]," Del Llano told WMUR. "'Why don't you come down? I think you have a chance to maybe win this contest.'"

Sure enough, the fugitive showed up at the Glenview Pub and Grill in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, last Saturday night. Once Del Llano spotted him, he called the cops, and they arrested Duby before he even had the chance to sing "I Fought the Law," or whatever.

"We wouldn't have made this arrest if it weren't for this gentleman," Chelmsford police lieutenant Edward Smith said of Del Llano, according to CBS News. "He was astute enough to recognize this person. Basically made things easy for us. All we had to do was show up."

Police charged Duby as a fugitive from justice, and though he was slated to appear in a Massachusetts court Monday, he's expected to be extradited to New Hampshire, his last known place of residence.

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