A multi-agency manhunt spanning states culminated in the capture of a fugitive wanted on serious violent charges stemming from a 2023 incident in Charles County, demonstrating coordinated law enforcement efforts to resolve long-standing warrants in Southern Maryland.
On January 26, 2026, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Warrant Unit, partnering with the United States Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force (CARFTF), located and apprehended Brandon Gerald Jernigan, 40, originally of Jackson, Mississippi. Jernigan faced multiple violent offense warrants across jurisdictions.
The charges originated October 18, 2023, when the Charles County Sheriff’s Office secured an arrest warrant accusing Jernigan of armed robbery, use of a firearm during a felony crime of violence, first-degree assault, theft, and various firearm-related offenses. A bench warrant followed in March 2025 after he failed to appear in court.
Investigators traced Jernigan to Martinsburg, West Virginia. On January 29, 2026, CARFTF agents, joined by members of the CCSO Criminal Investigations Division, the Mountain State Fugitive Task Force of the Northern District of West Virginia, and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, executed the arrest. Jernigan was extradited to Maryland and is detained without bond at the Charles County Detention Center in La Plata.
The apprehension highlights the Fugitive Warrant Unit’s role in tracking individuals who evade justice, often through interstate collaboration. Earlier public appeals in 2023 sought tips on Jernigan’s location, with authorities noting possible ties to areas like Brandywine in Prince George’s County.