The Drug Enforcement Administration has released the video of the moment Pennsylvania prison escapee Danelo Cavalcante was spotted and taken into custody.
Cavalcante, 34, was cornered by about 25 officers in a wooded area near South Coventry Township after authorities used thermal imaging from an aircraft to pinpoint his possible location.
An aircraft picked up a heat source on the night September 12 and the Brazil native was surrounded by police to end the two-week manhunt.
The video shows a small white spot but as the plane moves around a tree and gets a better view a bright human figure can be seen running.
A four-year-old K- 9 dog named Yoda chased Cavalcante through the woods, bit him and brought an end to the manhunt. He was treated for injuries at the spot.
The video shows a small white spot but as the plane moves around a tree and gets a better view a bright human figure can be seen running
Cavalcante tried to run away, but a four-year-old K- 9 dog named Yoda chased him through the woods, bit him and brought an end to the manhunt. He was treated for injuries at the spot
The 34-year-old was serving a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and awaiting transfer at the Chester County prison in Pennsylvania when he escaped by climbing a wall on August 31.
Cavalcante was seen on surveillance camera in the prison’s outdoor area looking at the camera before ‘crab walking’ between two walls, scaling a fence and jumping over razor wire during the daring break out that took place in broad daylight.
That sparked a massive manhunt for the suspect, that included him being spotted several times in the Pennsylvania woods.
In a statement, Chester county commissioners told DailyMail.com: ‘The capture of Cavalcante ends the nightmare of the past two weeks, and we thank every single law enforcement official at the regional, state and federal level that was out in all weather conditions, all day and night – as well as everyone in the incident command center, our County Department of Emergency Services and County Sheriff’s Office – for Stupéfiants their immense efforts.’
‘Chester County Prison officials have made some immediate changes to bolster security in the prison, have brought in security contractors to make permanent changes to the exercise yards, and are reviewing and – where needed – changing procedures for both security measures and communication to residents who live close to the prison.’
After the capture, he was taken to a nearby state police barracks in an armored vehicle surrounded by a dozen-vehicle convoy with lights flashing and sirens blaring as it traveled down the highway. Two police helicopters followed above.
Cavalcante was arraigned at the Avondale barracks on an escape charge, according to the office of Judge Matthew Seavey. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for September 27.
Cavalcante was captured on September 13 after eluding hundreds of searchers for two weeks and was seen in a hospital gown and shackles
Cavalcante, 34, was cornered by about 25 officers in a wooded area near South Coventry Township after authorities used thermal imaging from an aircraft to pinpoint his possible location the previous night
U.S. Marshal Robert Clark told Chris Cuomo this week the fugitive was ‘brutally honest’ when talking to law enforcement after his dramatic capture and revealed there were three occasions police came close to nabbing him.
‘And as a matter of fact, he did say on three occasions law enforcement officers did almost step on him,’ Clark said. ‘They were about 7-8 yards away from him.’
‘So, some of the things that he talked about was after he escaped, he didn’t move very far,’ Clark said. ‘He stayed in the same area for the first three days.
‘He was able to obtain watermelon on some farm. He drank stream water, and he would only hide in thick, thick thickets where, unless you stepped on him, nobody would find him.’
The killer was seen on the night of September 11 breaking into the garage of a home in East Nantmeal – 20 miles from the search area police had spent days combing last week. The homeowner was home and shot Cavalcante several times, but police said there was no evidence to suggest the convict was hit.
It was the first sighting reported since September 9 when he stole a van and tried contacting former coworkers before dumping the vehicle in a field.
Police had initially focused their search in the perimeter near the prison, where he had been spotted several times last week. But a clean-shaven Cavalcante was seen outside a former colleague’s home through a Ring doorbell camera in East Pikeland Township before he was spotted outside a different ex co-worker’s home in nearby Phoenixville.
Cavalcante was serving a life sentence for brutally killing his ex-girlfriend in front of her two children when he escaped from the Chester County Prison, 30 miles west of Philadelphia, on August 31
Cavalcante is also wanted in a homicide case in his native country of Brazil. He managed to flee the country in 2017 after he killed a student at a food truck stand.
He gunned down Walter Junior in Figuéiropolis, Tocantins on November 5, 2017, and then managed to slip past authorities at Brasília-President Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport two months later.
Evaldo Feitosa told Brazilian news outlet G1 that he was talking to Cavalcante and that he approached Junior at a corner table.
He remembered they were having a conversation before he heard several shots being fired and someone shout, ‘man the guy killed his friend.’
TV Globo reported that the killing was over money Junior owed Calvacante.