Rape suspect Nicholas Rossi nicked in UK flat after faking death in USA as cops batter down door during dramatic arrest
AMERICAN rape suspect Nicholas Rossi was dramatically arrested at his bolthole flat today after cops forced entry with a battering ram. Rossi, 34, was nabbed as he faced being sent back to the USA where he’s wanted on serious sex assault and fraud raps. Around six officers arrived at the pad in Glasgow’s Woodlands district […]
AMERICAN rape suspect Nicholas Rossi was dramatically arrested at his bolthole flat today after cops forced entry with a battering ram.
Rossi, 34, was nabbed as he faced being sent back to the USA where he’s wanted on serious sex assault and fraud raps.
Around six officers arrived at the pad in Glasgow’s Woodlands district mid afternoon and smashed through the door with a ‘ram-it’ device.
It’s believed he fugitive, who has multiple aliases including Alahverdian, was nabbed over fears he was a flight risk while on bail.
Wailing from Rossi’s wife could be heard as cops lifted him – with three ambulances and paramedics also arriving on the scene.
A standoff lasting hours took place before the suspected sex offender – who was only caught after being seriously ill with Covid in a Glasgow hospital – was busted.
A spokeswoman for the Utah County Attorney David Leavitt said: “Our office received news this morning and it is confirmed that a warrant was granted this morning at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for the arrest of Nicholas Alahverdian/Rossi.
“He was apprehended at the Scotland address and is due to appear at court tomorrow.
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“We again express our gratitude to the law enforcement agencies for their diligent efforts in this matter to bring this individual to justice.
“We do not comment on extradition proceedings or on the details of the work done in the course of this ongoing investigation.”
Rossi faked his own death two years ago after the FBI launched a $250,000 theft probe and Utah prosecutors alleged he raped a 21-year-old.
The alleged sex offender is visited by Police Scotland officers daily and he’s had home ventilation equipment, oxygen canisters and wheelchairs delivered to the home while he’s looked after by a woman who claims to be his wife.
Fugitive beast shacked up with mystery woman in £250k Glasgow flat as he fights US extradition on rape & fraud charges
We can also reveal he hatched a plot to escape hospital in Glasgow – where he nearly died of Covid – by hiring a private ambulance to take him away.
In an exclusive interview with the Scottish Sun, Utah County Attorney David Leavitt admitted most of the information regarding Rossi’s case had come from this newspaper’s reporting.
He said: “It’s a pretty fantastic story, made all the better because the Scottish Sun has fleshed out the details that we don’t have the capacity to flesh out ourselves.
“Most of the information we’ve gleaned has come from you.”
We revealed last week how a US fugitive using the name Arthur Knight had been snared in Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital in December after appearing on Interpol’s most wanted list.
But it soon emerged Knight is suspected of being crook Rossi who is wanted in Utah, Ohio, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Bizarrely, Sheriff Nigel Ross granted Rossi bail as he fights extradition even though he has been branded a ‘flight risk and danger to society.’
Mr Leavitt said: “When he faked his death, we knew he was alive.
“He was indicted in Ohio for defrauding people and we believe that’s what prompted him to fake his death with someone who was working in concert with him to arrange his funeral, who either was his wife or posed as his wife.
Fugitive ‘sex offender’ who faked his own death in USA caught in Scottish hospital after nearly dying from Covid
“He has a history of relationships – usually not the best ones.”
Mr Leavitt said Rossi was plotting to escape the law the minute he was well enough during his battle with Covid.
And he said police knew Rossi was in Scotland long before he took ill.
He said: “We knew he was in your country before he was admitted to hospital.
“The fact that he went to hospital was a good break for us.
“But I’d heard that he tried to hire a private ambulance to try to escape.
“He’s facing life imprisonment when he returns so he won’t want to come back.”
A cop was stationed on the door of his hospital room once his sneaky move was uncovered.
A police spokesperson said: “Officers arrested a 34-year-old man in the Woodlands area of Glasgow today, Thursday, 20 January, 2022, in connection with an arrest warrant.
He is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday, 21 January, 2022.”
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