Escaped Mississippi inmate taken into custody in Chicago after barricading inside restaurant near DNC site
CHICAGO (CBS) — A suspect who escaped during a court hearing in Mississippi in June was found in Chicago and taken into custody after a standoff with police in a West Side restaurant, authorities said.
CBS affiliate WREG-TV in Memphis reported that Joshua Zimmerman escaped from the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando, Mississippi on June 14. Authorities said he changed from a jumpsuit into civilian clothing and left through a door where no officers were around, the station reported.
Zimmerman had been charged with attempted murder and armed robbery in an incident in Southaven, Mississippi in September of last year. WREG reported Zimmerman was accused of attacking an elderly man who had hired him to work at his house.
Zimmerman was taken into custody on Wednesday morning.
DeSoto County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Justin Smith said Tuesday night that multiple law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service, have been searching for Smith since he fled.
Smith said Zimmerman was found at Seafood Junction, 2325 W. Madison St., just east of Western Avenue. The restaurant is only about half a mile west of the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention was in its second night Tuesday.
When Zimmerman arrived in Chicago still isn't clear. What is known is that Zimmerman worked at Seafood Junction—and when U.S. Marshals converged on the restaurant in an attempt to arrest him, he "retreated into the ceiling and barricaded himself."
CBS News Chicago obtained a video of Zimmerman shot this month inside Seafood Junction—in which a person who asked to remain anonymous thought a man in the video resembled Zimmerman after seeing social media posts with his image.
A different person, who asked not to use his name, said he comes to the strip mall where Seafood Junction is located often to get lunch.
He questioned how Zimmerman could have gotten a job at Seafood Junction.
"It really surprised me," he said. "They should check everybody's background before you go to work—and it's not fair for people."
John Chan watched as a SWAT team wearing gas masks entered the King Wok Gourmet Chinese Restaurant next door, where he works.
"I was watching this happen," he said. "Stayed up all night, even came here at 4:30 in the morning. I noticed the SWAT team putting on their masks, and that's an indication. I think they all went up on top of the roof."
Questions also remain as to how Zimmerman was able to get to Chicago and get a job in the city. Law enforcement was looking into all those questions late Wednesday.
The U.S. Marshal's Service investigators said they developed information that led them to the restaurant—leading to Zimmerman's arrest.
When he escaped, Zimmerman was also awaiting extradition to Houston, where he's charged with murder, the Marshals Service said, according to The Associated Press.
WREG reported that charge stems from his alleged involvement in a shooting that left a woman dead in a Houston motel last September.