An inmate who escaped last week from a Warren County, Pennsylvania jail has been captured.
Police confirmed during a Saturday evening press conference that Michael Burham, 34, was apprehended after nine days on the run, WIVB reported. Police said that a tip came in around 4 p.m. reporting a suspicious person in Conewango Township.
The tipster said that his dog was barking in the backyard, and when the homeowner went to see what was going on, he found Burham. The homeowner recognized Burham after the two had a brief conversation, during which Burham claimed he was camping.
Police created a perimeter around the area and took Burham into custody around 5:50 p.m. after a short pursuit. Burham did not have anything on him, but police have been searching the area where he was found.
Burham is currently in the Pennsylvania State Police’s custody and being processed. He will not be returned to the Warren County Jail and will instead be arraigned on charges related to his escape, WIVB reported.
Police had been on Burham’s trail, finding several bags containing food, clothes, and supplies in various wooded areas during their search.
More than 200 officers from 15 federal, state, and local agencies had joined the search for Burham, ABC News reported.
Warren County Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said during a press conference earlier this week that he had viewed surveillance footage of Burham’s escape, describing the inmate as being “like a spider” when he used exercise equipment to help him reach a window, which he then climbed down with a rope made from bedsheets.
Eggleston said prison staff responded to the escape within seconds, but Burham was too quick, and reportedly fled the building in just 10 seconds.
Police previously told reporters that a drone may have been flying over the prison on the night Burham escaped, with authorities looking for the operator and wondering if they could have been an accomplice of Burham’s.
“I’m not a big believer in coincidences,” Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said at a press conference. “It could be that there was a perfectly innocent and reasonable explanation. It could also be that it was somehow connected to his escape. And we intend to find out more about that.”
Burham was being held on $1 million bail for charges of kidnapping, burglary, and other charges. He is also the prime suspect in the May 11 murder of Kala Hodgkin, 34, as well as a related arson. He’s also accused of abducting an elderly couple in Pennsylvania.
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