An Indiana fugitive wanted on child sexual abuse charges was arrested in upstate New York on Tuesday while towing a children’s amusement ride to the Erie County Fair.
Michael Wayne Gordon, 48, was driving a Ford F350 towing a trailer loaded with colorful amusement park rides on I-90 when he was stopped by police because the windshield was broken and a passenger was not wearing a seat belt. West Seneca Police.
Gordon, who has a convicted sex offense, told officers he was heading to the Erie County Fairgrounds but couldn’t produce his driver’s license.
Instead, he provided police with a carnival company ride operator ID, which falsely listed his name as “James Davis.”
Police instructed Gordon to drive to a Department of Transport inspection station, where he gave a false date of birth.
Authorities were unable to find any records identifying him and discovered that the Kokomo, Indiana, resident was wanted by Indiana State Police and U.S. Marshals on two felony counts of child sexual abuse and failure to register as a sex offender.
He was arrested and booked into the Erie County Jail, police said.
Investigators determined he was not an employee of the Erie County Fair or the traveling amusement park company, Strates Shows, but was hired as an independent contractor to drive rides for the fair.
Police said Gordon was convicted of child sexual abuse in Indiana in 1994. He was convicted again in 1998 on a child sexual abuse charge and ordered to register as a sex offender.
He was convicted in 2004 of failing to register as a sex offender.
Prosecutors in Miami County, Indiana, filed a child sexual abuse case against Gordon in February 2021.
After he failed to appear for a hearing in March 2023, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.
Gordon is currently awaiting extradition to Indiana to stand trial in the latest case.
