Escaped Prisoner Caught After Massive Search
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI GARDENS (CBSMiami) – Authorities have caught an escaped inmate after a massive search in an industrial district in Miami Gardens.
The man, who was identified as Deshon Freeman, was caught shortly before 5 p.m. on Tuesday but his escape earlier had prompted a massive manhunt.
"Just saw a guy come out from between the trees and tried to walk out thru the front gate and that's when I tried to notify the police he was here," a worker – who did not want to be identified – told CBS4's Ted Scouten.
He's the one who first saw him trying to get by police walking out from the back of a building.
"He was laying on the ground trying to hide from the helicopter and the police and when he thought all the cops were out of the area, he tried to slowly get out of the area," said the worker.
When the worker noticed him, he said, the cuffed escapee pleaded with him to not turn him in.
"He's like, 'please, let me go.' I really couldn't understand him," said the worker.
For hours, police stopped cars leaving the area , checking them for any sign of the escapee.
"The subject was taken into custody and taken to our old station down the street. They were processing the prisoner and on the way walking the prisoner out the vehicle. The subject managed to break away from the officer and he fled on foot," said Doretha Hall of the Miami Gardens Police Department.
A source told CBS4 News that the man who escaped was initially taken into custody on a shoplifting charge. The source went on to say he told a rookie officer he had to go to the bathroom. That's when, we're told the suspect was brought to the old Miami Gardens Police Department and that he was cuffed with his hands in the front, which is normally against police procedure. The source went on to say the suspect pushed an officer and then ran.
Police were searching fields in the area – along with cars that are driving thru. In one spot, they even asked a semi to block the road to stop traffic. That's where they were looking inside cars and make sure no one was hiding.
"They're just randomly stopping every car, looking in the trunk and stuff like that," said Alex Lopez, a frustrated worker.
Lopez had been trying to get to work for a couple of hours with no luck.
"They won't even allow us to walk down the block which I don't understand. I don't have him in my pocket or anything," said Lopez earlier.
When he escaped, he was barefoot – only wearing socks – and his hands were still cuffed. In the end, it turns out he never got far. He was caught just a couple blocks from where he was being booked.
