Anonymous tip led to arrest of sailors in Cape, police say

Two young sailors jailed in Cape Girardeau on charges of desertion were arrested following an anonymous tip, a police spokesman said.

Seaman Apprentice Justin S. Burns, 20, of 1541 Revlon Drive, and Seaman Recruit Zachari M. Valentin, 20, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, were arrested Saturday at Burns' home. Both men were listed as deserters from the USS Carr, a frigate stationed at Norfolk, Va.

Burns was declared a deserter sometime in April, U.S. Navy spokeswoman Lt. Ligia Cohen said. She did not have a more specific date. Valentin was declared a deserter May 1, she said.

"I'm not sure they left the ship at the same time," Cohen said. Burns' "report seems to have been done a little earlier than the other one."

When a member of the armed forces fails to report for duty, Cohen said, they are listed as an unauthorized absence. Generally, military commanders wait 30 days after a failure to report to list a service member as a deserter, she said.

Zachari Valentin

Once a person has been declared a deserter, a federal arrest warrant is issued and their names and description are put on the National Crime Information Center database. The database is a nationwide listing of warrants issued by state and federal agencies.

The Navy did not alert Cape Girardeau police that a hometown sailor was wanted, police spokesman Cpl. Jason Selzer said. Instead, he said, police received an anonymous call Saturday morning, giving Burns' name, address and that he had a warrant.

Officers went to the home on Revlon Drive, where they found Burns and Valentin, Selzer said. Burns was arrested at 4:21 p.m., but when officers did a warrant check on Valentin, no warrant was found, he said.

"He volunteered that he had left the armed forces also," Selzer said.

Officers brought Burns to the Cape Girardeau police station and contacted the Navy about Valentin. "They went ahead and entered a warrant on him," Selzer said.

Both men were in Cape Girardeau police custody Tuesday afternoon. The police department was determining whether to take them to the county jail in Jackson until the Navy could retrieve them, Selzer said. He said he did not know when that would be.

Burns' wife, Brittany Burns, and his mother, Wendy Way, declined to be interviewed about the case.

Burns enlisted in the Navy on April 22, 2006, Cohen said. He graduated boot camp in June and went to an intermediate school before reporting to the USS Carr Aug. 6, she said.

Valentin enlisted in July, she said. He graduated from boot camp in October and reported directly to the USS Carr.

A typical tour of duty for a young sailor on his or her first vessel is three to five years, Cohen said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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