10/02/09 – VIDEO: National TV Show to Help Fort Smith Police catch Alamo follower John Kolbek
KFSM – Fort Smith
October 2, 2009
Kate Luck – Reporter
National TV Show To Help Fort Smith Police Catch Suspect
In early 2008, a 14-year-old follower of Tony Alamo’s stated that if he were Harry Potter, he would cast a spell on Alamo.
When word got back to Alamo about what was said, he sent John Erwin Kolbeck, also known as The Enforcer, to teach the child a lesson.
Kolbeck took his two sons to a factory in Fort Smith where the child worked scratching expiration dates off of canned foods.
Then he severely beat the child with a board nearly 40 times, until the board broke.
When Alamo was arrested last year, Kolbeck fled the area and hasn’t been seen since.
The television show America’s Most Wanted is in Fort Smith to take the story to a national level in hopes of finding John Erwin Kolbeck.
Sergeant Levi Risley sat down with America’s Most Wanted on Thursday to explain the case to the cameras.
Sergeant Risley requested the show be involved because he believes Kolbeck is a very violent and dangerous man.
“Because Kolbeck will follow any order sent down by Tony Alamo makes him a very violent and dangerous person in my opinion. Just to say “go beat this child because he said if he was Harry Potter he would cast a spell on me,” and Kolbeck carries that order out for such a flimsy reason- really for no reason at all. He could have easily beaten him to death if he had struck him in the wrong place. In my opinion he’s an extremely violent man,” said Sgt. Risley.
One reason Sergeant Risley is so eager to find Kolbeck is because he may still be receiving orders from Alamo to harm former followers. “I think because it looks like he’ll be spending a long time in prison, it’ll take a lot of teeth out of him, but he still has communication while in prison and, of course, Kolbeck is still running around out there,” Risley said. The last known whereabouts of Kolbeck was somewhere in eastern Oklahoma.
However police believe he has left that area and they have no idea where he may be now. They do not have a specific air date for the episode quite yet, but it is expected to air in November.
Kolbeck is wanted on 2nd degree felony battery charges and flight to avoid prosecution.