HAMPTON, Va. — Cola Beale was taken into custody without incident around 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday by the Hampton Police Division SWAT Team.
Sgt. Williams with HPD said they found him in the 100 block of North 4th Street. That's a few blocks from Buckroe Beach.
The arrest of Beale, who was wanted for three separate murders across Virginia Beach and Norfolk, was the culmination of a joint investigation by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, the Virginia Beach Police Department, and the Norfolk Police Department.
Police first named Beale as a murder suspect last week, when they found 31-year-old Czavier Hill dead from a gunshot wound in a burning Virginia Beach townhouse. For that case, Beale is being charged with second-degree murder and arson.
Then, on March 25, Virginia Beach police officers found 73-year-old Clifton Baxter dead from a gunshot wound in the 700 block of Linda Court. Beale is also suspected in that case.
Norfolk police also named Beale as a murder suspect after finding 32-year-old Downing D. Mclean dead in a home in the 3000 block of Sewells Point Road on Monday. Police officers didn't share Mclean's cause of death yet.
The joint investigation team arrested Beale just hours after Norfolk police told the public he was suspected to be behind Mclean's death.
Beale, 30, will be held at the Virginia Beach City Jail.