Texas DPS arrest 3 fugitives on Texas’ Top 10 Most Wanted

AUSTIN, Texas (KWTX) - Three of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted offenders are back in custody following their recent arrests by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Rodney Hunter, 50, was arrested August 9 in Waco; Thomas Naranjo, 41, was arrested August 10 in Houston; and Bruce Clifton, 56, was arrested August 15 in Mesilla Park, New Mexico were arrested.

A Crime Stoppers reward will be paid in Clifton’s arrest.

Rodney Eugene Hunter, of Waco , is a high-risk sex offender who was arrested at a location in south Waco by DPS Special Agents.

Hunter had been wanted since February 2022, when the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest for forgery.

In July 2022, the Waco Police Department issued a warrant for his arrest for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements.

In 1992, Hunter was convicted of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and two counts of burglary of a habitation. He received three nine-year sentences to be served concurrently.

In 1997, Hunter was convicted of two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact following incidents involving a 7-year-old girl.

He received two 15-year sentences in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility.

Thomas Correa Naranjo, of Houston, is a member of the Texas Syndicate Gang and was arrested at a location in north-central Houston by Houston Police Department SWAT.

Naranjo had been wanted since May 2021, after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a warrant for a parole violation.

In July 2021, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest for assault of a family/household member with previous conviction.

In 1998, Naranjo was convicted of attempted capital murder and aggravated robbery. He was given two eight-year sentences to be served concurrently.

In 2008, he was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and possession with intent to deliver cocaine. He was given a 10-year sentence and two 20-year sentences.

Bruce Orville Clifton, of El Paso, was arrested at a storage facility in Mesilla Park where the multi-agency fugitive investigation involved members of the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force from El Paso, including DPS Special Agents, along with members of the USMS District of New Mexico-Southwest Investigative Fugitive Task Force and New Mexico State Police-Fugitive Apprehension Unit.

Clifton had been wanted since January 2022, after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a warrant for a parole violation. In February 2022, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements.

In 1988, Clifton was convicted of sexual battery/physical force in Florida after an incident involving a 34-year-old woman. In 2001, he was convicted of sexual assault of a child after an incident involving a 15-year-old girl in Dallas County. He was sentenced to 15 years of confinement in a TDCJ facility.

In 2003, Clifton was convicted of sexual assault of a child following an incident involving a 14-year-old girl in Harris County and sentenced to 20 years of confinement.

In 2013, Clifton was convicted of possession of a deadly weapon in a penal institution and sentenced to two years. He was released on parole in May 2021.

To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities using one of the following three methods:

Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about then clicking on the link under their picture.
Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link (under the “About” section).

All tips are anonymous — regardless of how they are submitted — and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.