NEW YORK: US police announced on Wednesday the capture of a convicted Brazilian killer who caught national attention with his daring jail escape and two weeks on the run.
Pennsylvania state police said in a statement on social media that a press conference would be held shortly “announcing the details of the arrest of Danelo Cavalcante, AFP reported.
Footage on US media showed heavily armed officers in camouflage handcuffing the murderer and removing his shirt, revealing a big tattoo on his back, before placing him in the back of a police van.
No further details were provided.
Great Manhunt for Brazilian Fugitive
The manhunt for the Brazilian citizen involved some five hundred police using drones, helicopters, and dogs and assisted by special units in military-style gear.
But Cavalcante, 34 and measuring a diminutive five feet tall, appeared to have an uncanny ability to dodge his pursuers.
He had already evaded police in the suburban and rural part west of Philadelphia since his prison break on 31 August, and yesterday, he raised the stakes by entering a private garage to steal a .22 caliber rifle — then dodging pistol gunfire from the pursuing homeowner to get away.
Police declared him armed and very dangerous.
Cavalcante was convicted of murdering his girlfriend — stabbing her dozens of times in front of her kids– and had just started his sentence when he climbed over the jail wall and cleared two razor-wire fences.
Police then struggled to find out the fugitive’s location in the heavily wooded area. However, Cavalcante repeatedly popped up on private security cameras and even trail cams to monitor wildlife, turning his escape into a kind of grim reality TV show.
Stealing from houses, he succeeded in finding food, clothes, a rifle, and a van and somehow even managed to get shaved.
On Tuesday, after the rifle theft, officials set up roadblocks in the rural roads around Bucktown, Pennsylvania, where elite SWAT police and armored cars were also deployed.
