Escaped inmate Shane Pryor captured by U.S. Marshals after 5 days on the run

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The U.S. Marshals Service captured Shane Pryor, the 17-year-old escaped prisoner, Sunday night in Philadelphia after he spent five days on the run. 

U.S. Marshals arrested Pryor just after 6:30 p.m. Sunday at 3rd Street and Roosevelt Boulevard, between the city's Feltonville and Olney neighborhoods. 

Photos show U.S. Marshals arresting Pryor on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia. Law enforcement pulled the bus over to make the arrest, officials said. 

"We did a thorough pat down, but there was no cockiness. I think he knew the jig was up," U.S. Marshals Service Supervisory Deputy Rob Clark said. 

The 17-year-old had been on the run since Wednesday morning when he escaped custody outside of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Clark said Pryor was carrying a handcuff key at the time of his arrest. 

"Put the key in, turn and opens the restraints, so it's definitely a piece of equipment that's of interest to us," Clark said.

Pryor will now be taken to a secure facility as he awaits trial for the 2020 murder of Tanya Harris, officials said.

"I'm glad he was taken into custody and is safe and now the focus can return to defending him in court," Pryor's attorney Paul DiMaio told CBS News Philadelphia. 

Pryor's escape

Just before noon Wednesday, Pryor escaped Juvenile Justice Services Center custody. Police said he was originally taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for a hand injury by escorting staff. When he got there, police said he ran away while exiting the car outside the CHOP emergency department.

Clark said escorting staff did pursue the teenager on foot and was "almost in arm's length of him when they couldn't catch up to him."

Pryor was seen on surveillance video, released by the U.S. Marshals Service, inside the Hub for Clinical Collaboration. Investigators said the escaped prisoner asked to use a phone, but an employee didn't let him. They said he then left the building. 

Still, before noon, the U.S. Marshals Service said Pryor used a phone to call 18-year-old Michael Diggs after a woman on the street gave her phone to him. They said he told the woman he got in a fight and needed to call someone. 

At around 12:30 p.m., Diggs picked up Pryor on the 3500 block of Civic Boulevard, according to the U.S. Marshals. They said the two drove away in a cream-colored Ford. 

Less than an hour later, the two were seen at the corner of Mascher Street and Godfrey Avenue, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Surveillance video from the U.S. Marshals released Friday showed Pryor inside a corner store at the intersection. He is seen in different clothes than when he escaped. The U.S. Marshals Service said the two left the area around 2 p.m.

Later that evening, police stopped the cream-colored Ford on East Logan Street and took Diggs in for questioning. The U.S. Marshals said Pryor was not in the car. Diggs was later criminally charged with helping Pryor escape.

Pryor was spotted Friday at a Target on Bustleton Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, Clark said.

"Somebody at Target was that vigilant to say 'Hey, this guy kind of looks like him,'" Clark said. "We were able to interview that employee, we were able to do some other things. And ultimately, that led to the arrest."

Pryor awaiting trial for murder of Tanya Harris in Philadelphia 

Pryor and a co-defendant have been in custody since 2020 for a murder in the Holmesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia.

Investigators believe Pryor shot Tanya Harris in the head after he and another male tried to solicit sex from her on the night of Oct. 10, 2020.

According to an affidavit of probable cause in the case, Harris' body was found in an alcove in the alley behind a business on Torresdale Avenue near Shelmire Street after 10 p.m. that night.

The court document said detectives found surveillance footage from a nearby business that showed the woman with a boy in a Gap-branded hoodie around 6 p.m. 

Then around 50 minutes later, the woman was seen on video with two boys in an alcove behind the business on Torresdale Avenue — the location where her body was eventually found.

About 10 minutes after that, the two boys are seen running from the area, and then return later — seemingly, to search it.

Police said Pryor was identified as the boy in the Gap hoodie.

Five days later, he was stopped in the neighborhood and gave police officers a fake name before attempting to flee.

Investigators said they later got permission from Pryor's mother to speak to him.

Pryor told police he solicited sex from Harris, but said another man, between the ages 25-30 and dressed all in black, was the one who shot Harris. Pryor said he was not aware of the man's name.

Investigators later found the man Pryor was seen with on surveillance footage was about 14 or 15 years old — not an adult.

Other recent escapes

Clark said this is the seventh escape case the U.S. Marshals have worked on in the last 12 months.

"If you compare it to other manhunts with Ameen Hurst and Nasir Grant escape -- Nasir Grant we had in 5 days. Amir hurst took 10 days," Clark said. "[Danelo] Cavalcante took two weeks. So I couldn't be proud of the guys to get this gentleman in custody."

In:
• Northeast Philadelphia
• Olney
• Escaped Prisoner
• Holmesburg
• Feltonville