Abraham Pearson Captured: Detroit inmate who allegedly stabbed deputy, escaped is back in custody, report says

(CBS) DETROIT - A Michigan prisoner who allegedly stabbed a sheriff's deputy and escaped from a Detroit courthouse in back in police custody after a 14-hour manhunt, reports CBS Detroit.

Wayne County authorities searched well into the night Monday and took 25-year-old Abraham Pearson back into custody after someone spotted him hitchhiking and called 911, reports the station. The man had been convicted of armed robbery and was awaiting sentencing.

Pearson allegedly overpowered Deputy Harrison Tolliver as he was transporting him and two other prisoners into a holding cell, Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said. Pearson stabbed the deputy with a plastic comb that had been fashioned into a shank, Napoleon said.

Pearson stabbed Tolliver in the neck repeatedly, stole his deputy's uniform, ran from the courthouse and carjacked a minivan, which he later abandoned, police allege.

Pearson will face 11 additional charges following the alleged attack and escape, Napoleon said, reports he station. Pearson was scheduled to be in court Monday morning to learn his punishment after being convicted last month of carjacking, armed robbery and firearms charges, according to court records.

Pearson's defense attorney, James Howarth, said Pearson has a history of mental illness but was found competent to stand trial. He said he believes Pearson's mental health issues may have played a role in his escape Monday.

"In his right mind he would not have done this," Howarth said. "In the year I have known him, he has never showed the slightest symptom of being dangerous. Something is very wrong."