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Missing Breckenridge Attorney Scoop Daniel Arrested In California

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS4) - A Breckenridge lawyer who disappeared in 2007 and has been wanted since then on theft charges has been arrested in California.

Royal "Scoop" Daniel was booked into the San Diego Central Jail on Wednesday afternoon and was being held on a $175,000 bond. Border patrol agents arrested him.

"We're pleased obviously that he's been found," said Breckenridge Police Chief Rick Holman.

As a coincidence, the Breckenridge Assistant Chief of Police Greg Morrison was at a FEMA conference in San Diego at the time of Daniel's arrest and was able to positively identified him.

RELATED STORY: Missing Breckenridge Lawyer Unaware Of Warrant

Daniel suddenly went missing in the middle of the workday on April 27, 2007, in a highly publicized case. His co-workers reported him missing.

After an investigation by authorities a warrant was issued for his arrest about 2 weeks later. Police suspect he stole as much as $750,000 from clients.

Daniel told police he had been living in Acapulco and hadn't talked to anyone in the U.S. since he left. He also told police he didn't know he had felony criminal charges awaiting his return.

"There's a lot of questions we still don't have answers to," said Holman.

"We are happy Scoop Daniel was finally caught. And we're hoping to get this prosecution moving forward and hopefully, hopefully make the victims whole," said Summit County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert.

"Unfortunately there's only so much we can do in the criminal justice system to get that money. That's our main priority, get the victims their money back from here on out."

Daniel could be back in Colorado in as little as five days or as long as 90 days depending on whether he waives or challenges extradition. Daniel will appear in court Friday for an extradition hearing.

"The good part about this is it's a paper case. It's a case where we have documents and those documents don't go anywhere," said Hurlbert.

"To me this is just the beginning of the end. The end is when we have a successful prosecution and the victims are made whole," said Summit County Sheriff John Minor.

RELATED LINK: Breckenridge Police's Arrest Warrant For Daniel In 2007

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