"Turn yourself in," U.S. marshal warns escaped R.I. inmate
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The U.S. marshal in Rhode Island is urging an escaped prisoner to turn himself in.
Former Army reservist James Morales, 35, escaped from the Wyatt Detention Facility on New Year’s Eve by climbing a basketball hoop to reach a rooftop, cutting through a fence and climbing through razor wire, according to authorities. Police believe Morales fled to Attleboro, Massachusetts, and stole a car that was found Sunday.
At a news conference Tuesday, U.S. Marshal Jamie Hainsworth would not discuss details of the search but said Morales is likely injured with lacerations and might require medical attention. He asked for the public’s help and said people should notify authorities if they come across him.
“We know that he’s a dangerous individual,” Hainsworth said. “He may be armed.”
Morales is charged with stealing 16 guns from a U.S. Army Reserve Center and faces child rape charges in Massachusetts. Massachusetts State Police added him to their most wanted list Tuesday.
The facility was still on lockdown as of Tuesday afternoon. U.S. Marshal Hainsworth said federal authorities would look into the details of what happened the facility, but the main priority is to find Morales, CBS affiliate WPRI reports.
“Our major concern is to apprehend him, but we are concerned about all the other aspects as well,” Hainsworth said in response to a question about the delay in calling police at the prison. The U.S. Marshal Service in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and other states house detainees at Wyatt.
Hainsworth also said while his immediate priority is to find Morales, they’re going to take a “hard look” at the Wyatt Detention Facility, which is privately run.
The prison, located in Central Falls, has said it took more than three hours to discover Morales was missing. Two officers have been placed on paid leave.
On Tuesday, police detectives and a K-9 unit scoured a home on Irving Street in Framingham, Massachusetts, after that stolen car was found in that city, CBS Boston reports.
Neighbors believe the search of the home is related to the fugitive, who is considered dangerous and may be armed.
One Framingham woman told reporters that Morales banged on her door around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Vanessa Lugo told WBZ NewsRadio that a quiet New Year’s Eve with her kids was shattered when she heard loud banging on her back door. She didn’t answer, and the man doing the knocking walked away, walking down the street very calmly.
“The way he banged, it seemed like he was angry,” she said. “He had a bag with clothes already, he had already changed. He had no blood on him at that time.”
It wasn’t until police showed up about an hour later that Lugo found out that man was Morales. She believes he was looking for a female friend who lives in the building.
“They knew each other, normal friendship and stuff like that,” Lugo said.
She said she’s very scared for her family’s safety, since Morales is still on the loose.
“I haven’t slept,” she said. “I wish he could just get caught … I have children of my own, and I heard the charges that he had, so I was very scared for me and my children.”
The next day, police found a car illegally parked in a reserved residential spot at another apartment complex about a block from that door he’d banged on. Police say there was blood in it, along with trash and clothing.
“This building has so many kids and thinking about it, it’s like oh my God,” resident Lizbeth Acevedo told CBS Boston.
It was the same car police say Morales stole from a customer at an Attleboro market shortly after he escaped. But they say he had replaced the Rhode Island license plate with a Massachusetts one stolen from a car in an apartment parking lot on Route 9 in Framingham.
There have been other sightings. Police say they found surveillance video showing Morales walking toward Tedeschi’s Market in downtown Framingham, and on Monday, an officer saw a man matching his description driving south on Hollis Street toward Ashland in a Nissan Altima.
