The U.S. Marshals briefly reverted back to their Wild West roots today up in Hoopa, bringing murder fugitive Jason Hunsucker to justice after months on the lam. It was a Marshal Dyke who told the tale in a press release this afternoon:

Deputy U. S. Marshals from the Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force (PSWRFTF) formed a Joint Task Force with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Humboldt County Probation, and the California Department of Corrections and their Fugitive Apprehension Team to initiate a search for [Jason] Stallings-Hunsucker. On August 1, 2011 at approximately 1:30 PM the Task Force located Stallings-Hunsucker riding a motorcycle on State Road 169 near Mile Marker 16. Stallings-Hunsucker immediately tried to flee from the Task Force by riding off the road toward the Klamath River. He crashed the motorcycle and hid in some bushes nearby. Stallings-Hunsucker was soon surrounded and captured after a perimeter was established.

Yes, the story of the fugitive Hunsucker is the stuff of spaghetti Westerns and mariachi numbers. It was kicked off by a stupid crime that turned grisly, and it would come to encompass several daring escapes and near-fatal pressure brought to bear on a local newspaper that dared to print his craven and cowardly thoughts about life on the lam. A happy ending would be impossible, but thanks to the work of the Marshals and their allies this story at least has a satisfactory one.

###

So farewell then, Eureka Alibi.

It seemed like a can’t-miss proposition at the time – a big beautiful room, a classy interior renovation by Alchemy Construction and, topping it all, drink specials and the great Alibi menu. I have no idea why it never gelled, but gel it never did. Maybe some highly trained and moderately tipsy feng shui master could explain it all to us.

Club West, Auntie Mo’s, Club Indigo and – sniff! – The Alibi. The curse of 535 Fifth has claimed another victim.