By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Just two hours before America's Most Wanted was to air a profile on Mark Petersimes, the sex offender wanted by authorities was caught in Denver.
Petersimes, 47, was arrested Saturday night when an 11-year-old girl went into a Family Dollar store in Lakewood and told a clerk a man had attempted to rape her, according to MyFoxColorado.com.
Click here to see a report from MyFoxColorado.com.
The clerk confronted Petersimes about the allegation and called police. He attempted to escape, but cops caught up to him and arrested him.
Petersimes had been on the run for more than a year after he escaped from a halfway house in Dallas. He cut off his GPS tracking ankle bracelet and disappeared on May 2, 2006, according to America's Most Wanted.
The clerk confronted Petersimes about the allegation and called police. He attempted to escape, but cops caught up to him and arrested him.
Petersimes had been on the run for more than a year after he escaped from a halfway house in Dallas. He cut off his GPS tracking ankle bracelet and disappeared on May 2, 2006, according to America's Most Wanted.
His rap sheet extends back to 1981, when he was convicted of attempted rape in North Carolina and served two years.
Most recently, Petersimes was convicted in 1991 of sexually assaulting two young girls and served 12 years. In 2003, after release, he was put in a halfway house. He escaped, and had to serve more jail time. He was then put in another halfway house, but escaped again this past May.
He is being held in a Jefferson county jail on $1 million bond.
Click here to see his profile page on America's Most Wanted.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/wanted-sex-offender-caught-in-denver