AKRON, Ohio — A fugitive wanted for nearly 16 months over a 2025 shooting in Springfield Township is finally in custody. Members of the U.S. Marshals-led Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) arrested Stanley Smith, 41, on Wednesday afternoon, November 4, 2026, at an address in the 100 block of Spruce Avenue in Ravenna, Ohio, the U.S. Marshals Service announced. Smith was wanted by the Summit County Sheriff's Office on charges of felonious assault and having weapons under disability. The charges are allegations: Smith has not been convicted, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The arrest ends a search that began on July 8, 2025 — the day Smith allegedly shot a victim in the leg at an address in the 1400 block of Albrecht Avenue in Springfield Township and fled the scene, according to the Marshals Service. A manhunt followed, and Smith remained on the run from that day until this week's arrest in Ravenna, in neighbouring Portage County.
July 8, 2025: a shooting in Springfield Township, then a disappearance
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, the case began on July 8, 2025, in Springfield Township, a community in Summit County just southeast of Akron. Smith was involved in an incident at an address in the 1400 block of Albrecht Avenue during which, the Marshals say, he allegedly shot a victim in the leg and fled. The Springfield Township Police Department issued a warrant for Smith that same day, July 8, 2025, and the case was later bound over to the Summit County Sheriff's Office. The Marshals' announcement does not name the victim, describe the victim's condition beyond the leg wound, or say what led up to the shooting — those details are expected to come out in court, not in a fugitive announcement.
Sixteen months of interviews, leads and a 'Fugitive of the Week' listing
The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force began searching for Smith immediately, in July 2025, the Marshals Service said. Over the following year and more, task force officers conducted several interviews and followed investigative leads. Smith was at one point featured as the U.S. Marshals' 'Fugitive of the Week,' the service's public-appeal format for wanted fugitives. Recently, investigators learned that Smith was residing in Ravenna — the Portage County seat, northeast of Akron — and on Wednesday afternoon task force members arrested him at the Spruce Avenue address. The announcement does not describe any struggle or incident at the arrest, and it does not say how long Smith had been living at the Ravenna address.
Felonious assault is an Ohio felony charge covering allegations of knowingly causing serious physical harm to another person, or causing harm with a deadly weapon. 'Having weapons under disability' is an Ohio charge that applies when a person who is legally barred from possessing a firearm — for example because of certain prior felony convictions or a pending felony indictment — is accused of having one anyway. Both charges against Smith are allegations at this stage; the underlying facts will be tested in court.
What the Marshals said
U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott, in the statement carried in the Marshals Service announcement, said: 'This violent fugitive was on the run for over a year, but our task force officers never stop pursuing him. This arrest is a great example of the tenacity of our task force. We never stop pursuing those who commit violent crimes against the people of our communities.' The task force asked anyone with information about a wanted fugitive to call 1-866-4WANTED (1-866-492-6833) or submit a web tip; reward money is available and tipsters may remain anonymous.
A 20-agency task force
The NOVFTF's Akron Division is not a single police force but a standing coalition of about twenty federal, state and local agencies led by the U.S. Marshals Service. Its listed members include the Akron, Barberton, Copley Township, Cuyahoga Falls, Fairlawn, Hudson, Kent, New Franklin, Northfield, Norton, Reminderville, Tallmadge and Twinsburg police departments, the Medina County and Portage County sheriff's offices, the Summit County Sheriff's Office, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority and the Wayne County Court of Common Pleas. That structure is why a Springfield Township warrant could be worked for more than a year across county lines and end with an arrest in Portage County.
What happens next
Smith was arrested on the Summit County Sheriff's Office warrant, so his case now returns to Summit County, where the felonious assault and weapons-under-disability charges will go through the normal first court appearances and hearings. No court date was given in the Marshals announcement. The shooting victim's account, and any evidence about the July 2025 incident on Albrecht Avenue, will be presented by prosecutors there; Smith is entitled to a defence and to the presumption of innocence. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when a first court date or any further charging decision is announced.
Why a year-old shooting still matters to the neighbourhood
For residents of the Albrecht Avenue area of Springfield Township, this week's arrest closes a long open file: a neighbour was shot, the named suspect vanished the same day, and for nearly 16 months the case sat in the fugitive system rather than in a courtroom. Fugitive arrests of this kind rarely make national news, but they are the point at which an allegation finally becomes a court case — and the point at which both the victim and the accused get the hearing that a warrant alone can never provide.