ICE deports Polish murder suspect found living in Chicago area

CHICAGO — A Polish murder suspect, who fled to the Chicago area to evade prosecution in his home country, was deported Thursday and turned over to Polish law enforcement authorities in Warsaw, Poland.

This deportation was conducted by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Chicago.

Under the escort of ERO officers, Pawel Wojciech Chrzanovski, 25, departed Wednesday on a commercial flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and was turned over to law enforcement officials in Poland Jan. 23.

Chrzanovski is wanted in Poland in connection with a fatal stabbing that occurred in Krakow, Poland. According to the Polish arrest warrant, Chrzanovski and three other individuals violently assaulted three victims with knives and machetes March 14, 2013. One of the victims, Tomasz Jantos, subsequently bled to death from his injuries. The arrest warrant alleges that Chrzanovski began hiding from Polish law enforcement authorities who were investigating the crime. A nationwide search for Chrzanovski in Poland turned up no results.

Nine days after the violent assault in Krakow, Chrzanovski entered the United States on a six-month visitor's visa March 23, 2013. He illegally remained in the United States beyond the visa's Sept. 22 expiration date.

Chrzanovski's repatriation to Poland follows his capture by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ERO's Fugitive Operations Team Nov. 18, 2013 at his place of employment in Park Ridge, Ill.

At the time of his arrest, Chrzanovski was employed at The Four Seasons Farm in Park Ridge, Ill., and was residing in Chicago. He remained in ICE custody until his deportation Thursday.

"Chrzanovski thought he could evade justice in Poland by living under the radar in Chicago," said Ricardo Wong, ERO Chicago field office director. "But international fugitives will find no sanctuary in U.S. communities. As this case demonstrates, we work closely with our foreign counterparts to promote public safety and hold criminals accountable."

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 720 foreign fugitives from the United States who were being sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.