By Steve Neavling

B. Chad Yarbrough has been named special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office.

A native of the Dallas area, Yarbrough most recently served as a deputy assistant director in the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI headquarters.

Yarbrough joined the bureau as a special agent in 2006, when he was first assigned to the Dothan Resident Agency of the Mobile Field Office in Alabama to investigate violent crime and crimes against children. 

In 2010, Yarbrough transferred to the Chicago Field Office and became a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and investigated domestic terrorism matters.

In 2012, Yarbrough was promoted to supervisory special agent and worked in the Internal Investigations Unit of the Inspection Division at FBI headquarters. 

In 2014, he became supervisory special agent of the Mobile Field Office’s Violent Criminal Threats squad and also supervised Mobile’s Child Exploitation and Safe Streets task forces.

In 2017, Yarbrough became assistant special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh Field Office, where he oversaw the criminal, crisis-management, and SWAT programs. Yarbrough led the FBI’s investigation of the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue. 

In 2020, Yarborough became section chief of the bureau’s National Threat Operations Section.

In 2021, he was named deputy assistant director in the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI headquarters to oversee the Transnational Organized Crime, Violent Crime, and Operational Support sections.

Before joining the FBI, Yarbrough worked in the Fort Worth, Texas, area as a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigative Division. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Sam Houston State University in Texas.

By Steve Neavling

FBI Director Christopher Wray appointed new special agents in charge of the field offices in Charlotte, New Haven and Buffalo, the bureau announced Monday. 

Matthew Miraglia was tapped to lead the Buffalo Field Office in New York. Most recently, he served as the section chief in the Cyber Division at FBI headquarters.

Miraglia joined the bureau as a special agent in 2003 and served in various roles, from investigating Russian counterintelligence matters in the New York Field Office to serving as assistant special agent in charge of the Special Operations Branch in New York. 

Miraglia received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Gettysburg College and worked as an information security systems engineer and architect before joining the bureau. 

Robert Fuller was named special agent in charge of the New Haven Field Office in Connecticut. Most recently, Fuller served as deputy assistant director in the Critical Response Group at FBI headquarters.

Fuller joined the FBI as a special agent in 2000 and first worked in the New York Field Office before deploying several times to Afghanistan as a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He also served stints at New York’s White Plains Resident Agency and Hudson Valley Residence Agency, the New Haven Field Office, the Inspection Division and the Investigative Operations Support Section. 

Before joining the bureau, Fuller was a police officer in Poughkeepsie, New York, and a lead pyrotechnic operator for a firework company. He received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master’s degree in public administration from Marist College in Poughkeepsie. 

Robert M. DeWitt was named special agent in charge of the Charlotte Field Office in North Carolina. Most recently, he served as section chief in the Operational Technology Division in Quantico, Va.

DeWitt joined the FBI as a special agent in 2002 and first served in the Washington Field Office, investigating counterterrorism. He also served stints on the Hostage Rescue Team and worked as the supervisor senior agent for the Des Moines Resident Agency in Iowa before being promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Omaha Field Office in 2017. 

Before joining the bureau, DeWitt served in the U.S. Army and supported combat operations in southwest Asia. He also was a supervisor with the Missouri Highway Patrol. DeWitt graduated from Lindenwood University in Missouri. 

By Steve Neavling

A pit bull that recently attacked an off-duty FBI agent’s smaller dog also seriously injured another dog less than a month earlier, residents told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Jacqueline Maguire, the special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Field Office, shot the pit bull after it snatched her dog from her lap and began aggressively shaking it outside of an apartment complex.

The shooting led to protests, and the bureau is conducting an investigation.

On Jan. 27, the 7-year-old pit bull named Mia attacked a Siberian husky mix puppy outside of the same apartment complex. The dog required three surgeries and $9,000 in vet bills. 

After the attack, management of the apartment complex required the pit bull to be muzzled in all common areas and banned it from a community dog park. 

“It’s been a little frustrating,” said one resident who witnessed the earlier dog fight. “Many of us in the building know that this dog [Mia] was not completely innocent.”

By Steve Neavling

The off-duty FBI agent who shot a dog in Philadelphia, prompting protests by animal rights activists, was identified as Jacqueline Maguire, the special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Field Office, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. 

The FBI confirmed one of its agents shot “an aggressive dog” outside of an apartment tower on Monday. 

“The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously,” a spokesperson for her office said in a statement. “We are working jointly with the Philadelphia Police Department and the FBI’s Inspection Division to investigate the incident.”

The 7-year-old pit bull, Mia, died soon after being shot. 

Maguire, who was appointed to head the Philadelphia office in October 2021, has declined to comment while the shooting is under investigation.

Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said the shooting occurred after the pit bull attacked Maguire’s dog. 

“She had a smaller dog and a larger dog attacked that dog,” he said. “When [Maguire] tried to get her dog back, I think the dog attacked her and then she discharged her weapon.”

The incident was captured on security cameras outside the apartment building. The video showed Maguire sitting on a bench with her small dog on her lap when the pit bull snatched the dog and began aggressively shaking it. 

After Maguire tried to separate the dogs, she drew her gun and shot the pit bill at close range.

The pit bull’s owner, Maria Esser, said the dog died in her arms. Calling the shooting “reckless,” Esser said the agent put her and other people’s safety in danger. 

“Mia was leashed and shot at an incredibly close — less than 3-foot — distance,” Esser’s sister, Gabriella, told The Inquirer on Tuesday. “I can’t stop thinking about how my sister, Maria, could have been injured or worse.”

Animal rights activists protested outside the bureau’s field office on Tuesday and called for the firing of the agent who was responsible. 

Police plan to refer the case to the District Attorney’s Office once the investigation is complete. 

The FBI is conducting its own internal investigation, which is standard when an agent discharges a weapon.

By Steve Neavling

Christie M. Curtis has been appointed to serve as special agent in charge of the Intelligence and Surveillance Division of the New York Field Office. 

Before the appointment, Curtis was a supervisory inspector in the Inspection Division at FBI headquarters.

Curtis became a special agent for the FBI in 2004, when she was assigned to the Garret Mountain Resident Agency to investigate gangs and drug offenses. 

In 2008, she transferred to Newark’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and also worked on the Evidence Response Team.

In 2009, Curtis became supervisory special agent and transferred to the Counterterrorism Division at FBI headquarters, where she managed terrorism investigations. In addition, she oversaw international investigations, emphasizing on threats from the Horn of Africa. 

In 2010, she served as the acting assistant legal attaché to Nairobi, Kenya.

In 2011, Curtis began working in the Los Angeles Field Office as the supervisory special agent for the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). In that role, she managed several investigations that led to terrorism disruptions.

In 2013, Curtis became assistant inspector in the Inspection Division at FBI headquarters. 

In 2014, she joined the Counterterrorism Division and was named the senior detailee to the National Security Agency.

In 2017, Curtis became assistant special agent in charge of the National Security and Intelligence Branch of the Louisville Field Office in Kentucky, and in 2020, she became supervisory inspector in the Inspection Division.

Curtis received a dual bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and political science and a master’s degree in forensic science from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. 

Before joining the bureau, Curtis worked for the Defense Security Service.

By Steve Neavling

Akil Davis is returning to his home state of Arizona to serve as the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office, the bureau announced Tuesday. 

Before the appointment, Davis was serving as a section chief in the International Operations Division at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Davis, who grew up in Mesa, became a special agent in 2005, when he was assigned to the Palm Springs Resident Agency to investigate violent and organized crimes and narcotics trafficking. He also served on the Los Angeles Field Office’s SWAT team. 

Davis deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2008 to work with the U.S. Army’s 10th Special Forces Group.

In 2011, Davis became a supervisory special agent and transferred to the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate at FBI headquarters. 

In 2014, he was back in the Los Angeles Field Office, managing the Transnational Organized Crime Program. 

In 2017, Davis served as the FBI’s acting assistant legal attaché to The Hague, Netherlands.

In 2019, Davis began serving as assistant special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office.

In 2021, Davis became section chief in the International Operations Division.

Davis received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Los Angeles and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University. 

Before joining the bureau, Davis was a police officer for the Scottsdale Police Department in Arizona.

By Steve Neavling

Robert K. Tripp has been named special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office. 

Before the appointment, Tripp was a supervisory inspector in the Inspection Division at FBI headquarters.

Tripp’s career with the FBI began in 1998, when he became an intelligence research specialist and worked transnational organized crime in the Criminal Investigative Division at headquarters. 

After being chosen as a special agent in 2003, he was assigned to the St. Louis Field Office to investigate public corruption and white-collar crime.

In 2006, Tripp went to the Washington Field Office, where he worked international mass marketing fraud through the Department of Justice Fraud Section. Toward the end of his assignment at the Washington Field Office, he investigated corporate and securities fraud.

In 2012, Tripp became supervisory special agent and worked in the director’s Research Group at headquarters. 

Tripp transferred to the Sacramento Field Office in California in 2014 and supervised a public corruption and civil rights squad. He later supervised a squad responsible for violent crime and violent crimes against children.

Tripp was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Sacramento office in 2018 and was responsible for all investigations of criminal and cyber threats. He was also responsible for the criminal squads in all seven of Sacramento’s resident agencies. In addition, as assistant special agent in charge, he served as the acting commander of the newly established Sacramento Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

In 2021, Tripp was promoted to inspector and returned to headquarters. 

Mr. Tripp received a bachelor’s degree in history from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y, and a master’s degree and doctorate in history from Washington University in St. Louis.

By Steve Neavling

Richard A. Collodi has been named special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle Field Office. 

Before the appointment, he was serving as an inspector in the Inspection Division at FBI headquarters. 

Collodi began working as a special agent in 2002 in the Oklahoma City Field Office, where he investigated violent crime, criminal enterprises, economic crimes, and counterterrorism and worked human intelligence matters. In addition, he served on the SWAT team and deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2012.  

In 2014, Collodi became supervisory special agent and transferred to the Director’s Operations and Coordination Unit at FBI headquarters.

Collodi transferred to Idaho in 2016 to work as supervisory senior resident agent of the Coeur D’Alene Resident Agency, a satellite office of the Salt Lake City Field Office.  

In 2019, Collodi became assistant special agent in charge of the Salt Lake City Field Office over the Administrative and Intelligence Branch. He handled intelligence, human intelligence, and crisis management programs, including the SWAT team, the Evidence Response Team, the Hazardous Evidence Response Team, and crisis negotiations, and numerous administrative programs. 

In 2020, Collodi was promoted to inspector in the Inspection Division at headquarters.  

Before he joined the bureau, Mr. Collodi was a police office in Boulder, Colo. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota with majors in criminal justice and psychology.