A police canine attacked a Pennsylvania fugitive as he tried to crawl away by dense undergrowth, surrounded by officers, two weeks after he escaped from jail, authorities mentioned.
Danilo Cavalcanti, 34, was arrested in a wooded space after a airplane picked up his warmth sign in a single day.
Greater than 500 officers chased him after he escaped from jail on August 31.
Final month, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his ex-girlfriend in entrance of her two younger youngsters in April 2021.
In a press convention, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro mentioned Cavalcanti “was arrested with none pictures fired” shortly after 08:00 native time (12:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
He credited the “extraordinary work” of legislation enforcement and the “large help of members of the general public” in Cavalcanti’s arrest.
Police advised reporters {that a} search crew of mounted patrols, canine and plane deployed over the woods of the city of South Coventry amid rain and thunder all through the evening.
Cavalcanti was approached by legislation enforcement by a burglar alarm in a house.
A DEA airplane picked up a thermal sign on the bottom at 01:00, however the airplane needed to fly away because of unhealthy climate.
A tactical crew of about twenty officers started approaching the warmth supply at round 04:00, ultimately finding Cavalcanti 4 hours later.
“They had been capable of transfer very quietly. That they had the component of shock,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivins mentioned on the information convention.
“Cavalcanti didn’t notice he was trapped till this occurred. This didn’t cease him from attempting to flee.
“He started crawling by thick bushes and took his (stolen) rifle with him as he went.”
A US Customs and Border Safety unit from Texas, together with a minimum of one canine, was a part of the tactical crew.
The canine “subdued” Cavalcanti as he tried to flee, leaving him with a “minor harm.”
“He continued to withstand however was forcefully detained,” Lt. Col. Bivins mentioned.
Officers mentioned Cavalcanti suffered a “scalp wound” and can be “medically evaluated” earlier than being taken to jail.
The Philadelphia prosecutor mentioned in an announcement that he’ll seem in courtroom on escape prices within the close to future.
Native media footage exhibits a handcuffed Cavalcanti, sporting a grimy Philadelphia Eagles jacket, being escorted to a black armored police automotive.
A big crew of officers sporting camouflage uniforms had been seen taking images with their captive earlier than slicing him off from his jacket and placing him within the automotive.
Lt. Col. Bivins mentioned he was “not bothered in any respect” that the officers took the photograph.
“These women and men are working amazingly laborious in some very troublesome circumstances. They’re pleased with their work,” he advised reporters.
The three Chester County commissioners mentioned in a joint assertion that Cavalcanti’s arrest “brings an finish to the nightmare of the previous two weeks.”
They mentioned jail officers made “some rapid modifications to boost safety on the jail,” together with hiring new safety contractors.
Only one week after being sentenced to life with out parole, Cavalcanti walked between two partitions and scaled a razor wire fence to flee from the Chester County Jail, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Philadelphia, the place he was ready to be transported to jail. Totally different facility.
His escape methodology was the identical as that utilized by one other prisoner, Igor Bolte, in Might. The jail’s evident safety vulnerability and the lone escapee’s evasion of a two-week pursuit involving officers outfitted with night-vision goggles, canine, drones and air assist have embarrassed authorities.
Chester County residents have been on edge amid a number of current sightings, with one native TV station even reporting an uptick in gross sales at gun shops.
Whereas fleeing, Cavalcanti tried to contact his companions, together with his sister, police mentioned. She didn’t assist him and was later detained for immigration violations.
On Tuesday, they warned that the fleeing killer entered an open storage within the space and fled with a .22-caliber rifle whereas the house owner fired a number of pictures in his path.
Members of the family of the ex-girlfriend he killed, Deborah Brandao, had been beneath 24-hour police safety.
Cavalcanti’s escape and arrest made headlines in his native Brazil, the place social media customers celebrated the top of the manhunt.
In an interview with Brazilian information website G1, Brandao’s sister mentioned the arrest “brings plenty of reduction.”
“We had been afraid he would search revenge towards my household,” Silvia Brandao advised the outlet. “We had been very afraid as a result of you understand what he’s able to.”
Along with Brandao’s homicide, Cavalcante was accused of killing a younger pal over an unpaid debt within the central Brazilian state of Tocantins in 2017.
Further reporting from Luis Barocho, BBC Brazil