Some criminals will do anything to face the consequences of their actions. That’s what one woman in Florida did when she decided to violate her probation and flee the state. It took detectives some time to figure out where she fled, but they eventually learned that she had moved to Hawaii and changed her name after getting married. It was only a matter of time, though, before her past caught up with her.
38-year-old fugitive tries to escape two warrants
On October 20, 38-year-old Ashley Beams, known as Ashley Thomas at the time, was arrested by the Hawaii Police Department and United States Marshals Service after being on the run for a year, according to a post by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) in Florida on its official Facebook page.
Beams has been wanted since October 2025 with two arrest warrants. She had violated her probation after being arrested previously for grand theft, burglary, and drug possession of methamphetamine. Beams was able to avoid capture for about a year, but detectives eventually figured out that she had flown to Hawaii and had changed her last name to Thomas after getting married.
“Fleeing to an island paradise and changing your name to avoid capture might be the oldet trick in the book,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “She probably thought we had stopped looking or couldn’t find her. However, if she believed her escape plan was enough so she could live out her life sipping Mai Tais in the Aloha State and never have to worry about spending time behind bars, she was wrong.”
The FCSO Fugitive Apprehension Unit and Special Investigations Unit reached out to law enforcement in Hawaii, which arrested Beams this week. She has been booked at the East Hawaii Detention Facility and will be extradited back to Flagler County.
Commenters on Facebook were surprised that Beams fled to another state instead of another country. One wrote, “If you’re running from probation, you don’t go to a US territory lady.”
Another said, “Apparently she forgot ALOHA means both hello and goodbye.”
