California authorities relieved by arrest of fugitive rapist

By ALEXANDRIA SAGE
Associated Press Writer

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) Authorities in California were relieved that Andrew Luster, the Max Factor cosmetics heir convicted of rape, was captured Wednesday in a Mexican seaside resort. But the officials did not condone the actions of bounty hunters who found the fugitive.

Luster, 39, had been on the run for five months since being convicted and sentenced in absentia to 124 years for multiple counts of rape, poisoning and drug possession involving three women. The great-grandson of makeup legend Max Factor disappeared in January during a recess in his trial.

After receiving hundreds of tips about Luster's whereabouts, a couple who had been traveling in Puerto Vallarta first contacted a bounty hunter June 8, and then the FBI's Seattle office two days later, authorities said. The couple, who were not identified, had socialized with Luster and taken photos of him but were unaware that he was a fugitive, FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley said.

They realized who he was was after returning to the United States and seeing Luster's picture on TV.

The tip was passed on to the Los Angeles FBI, which forwarded it to its legal attache in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The attache was en route to Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday when he was notified that Luster had been apprehended, Bosley said. The attache went straight to a Mexican jail where he identified Luster.

``The ID was pretty easy,'' said FBI agent Bob Mack, the resident agent in Ventura, where Luster was prosecuted. ``I believe our legal attache went in and confronted the individual who he thought to be Andrew Luster and asked him his name and I think he said, 'I'm Andrew Luster.'''

The FBI said there was no negligence in pursuing the tip that led to Luster's arrest, eight days after the information was given to the agency.

``We were on the trail and I think it would have been inevitable that he would have been arrested,'' Mack said.

``We believed that an individual who was not used to being on the run, would not have a long time on the run. Maybe he wasn't prepared,'' Mack said. ``There has to be a mindset and things like that to be on the run. It's not that easy to be a fugitive.''

Mack said he was ``surprised but not embarrassed'' that bounty hunters, not a law enforcement agency, caught the fugitive.

``He's in custody and that's the bottom line,'' Mack said.

Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks said he was grateful that justice was served.

``I am thankful that there is some closure for the victims involved,'' he said.

Brooks said his department received hundreds of tips, some of which initially placed Luster in Baja California. But the latest information ``didn't rise above the level of other tips,'' Brooks said.

Luster had been living in Puerto Vallarta for about a month, police spokesman Sebastian Zavala said. The bounty hunters found Luster in his car before dawn Wednesday, grabbing him in a noisy scuffle. Luster, three bounty hunters and two journalists were taken into custody.

FBI official Ralph Boelter was critical of the bounty hunters' decision to capture Luster without the help of law enforcement.

``I think his actions are just beyond the bounds that I can condone,'' Boelter said, later adding, ``I would say that taking it to that limit, yes, was wrong.''

Brooks echoed those sentiments and said that the bounty hunters would not be eligible for Luster's forfeited $1 million bail.

``He took a dangerous action in a foreign country and he's paying the price for it,'' Brooks said.

However, the bounty hunters as well as the couple who phoned the FBI may be eligible for a $10,000 reward, Brooks said.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)