'To Catch a Predator' Host Chris Hansen Wanted for Arrest

Authorities are hoping to catch To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen. An arrest warrant was issued for the TV personality this week after Hansen failed to appear in a Michigan courtroom on Thursday, July 1, Shiawassee County Prosecuting Attorney Scott Koerner confirmed. The incident follows Hansen's January 2019 arrest on a larceny charge after he purchased around $13,000 in merchandise with checks that later bounced.

NBC 25 reported that 35th District Court Judge Matthew Stewart issued the bench warrant after Hansen was subpoenaed to appear in a Shiawassee County courtroom on Thursday, but did not. Hansen's court appearance was in connection to a sting operation he assisted authorities with that led to the October 2020 arrests of three men – a 32-year-old Michigan Corrections Officer, an 18-year-old from Westphalia, Michigan, and a 45-year-old HVAC worker from Corunna, Michigan – who allegedly attempted to meet up with underage girls at a hotel in Owosso, Michigan. During a joint press conference in October 2020, police agencies used undercover online chat rooms to pose as minors, communicating with 171 people. Of those, three attempted to meet up and showed up at a hotel in Owosso believing that they were going to have sex with girls between the ages of 13 and 15. Shiawassee County Sheriff Brian BeGole said "there was a 4th subject that also arrived on scene, but fled. We know who he is and we're going to be coming for him."

The sting operation was a joint effort between the Shiawassee County Sheriff's Office, Genesee County Sheriff GHOST team, and several other agencies. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson Hansen, an investigative journalist, to take part. Of Hansen's involvement, Swanson said at the time of the arrests, "We worked with Chris Hansen to use his platform to reignite the awareness and the enforcement of what's happening here and to duplicate it around the nation."

After the warrant was issued for his arrest, Hansen on Thursday chalked his failure to appear in court up to "miscommunication." In a statement shared via Instagram, the journalist explained, "the court matter in Shiawassee Co, Mi today resulted from a predator investigation there. Defense lawyers for accused predator Michael Lott had requested video from the investigation. There was miscommunication about a hearing today on the issue." According to Hansen, "the matter is currently being resolved!"

Hansen is best known for hosting To Catch A Predator, the popular Dateline NBC segment where he trapped potential internet sex predators in sting operations with police departments across the country. The segments ended in 2007, after which Hansen went on to host the syndicated series Crime Watch Daily, which ran from 2015 to 2018.