Officials: Attempted Mass. bank robber may be escaped R.I. inmate

BOSTON -- Massachusetts authorities are investigating whether a man who escaped from a federal prison in Rhode Island is the same man who attempted to rob a bank in Cambridge on Thursday.

James Morales escaped Saturday from the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island.

A Massachusetts State Police spokesman said a man police believe was Morales attempted to rob a Bank of America in Cambridge, outside Boston, on Thursday. He later said authorities haven’t made a definitive identification, but the suspect resembles Morales. Police told CBS Boston a note was passed, but the suspect did not get away with any money.

The robbery suspect was described as a black man about five feet, ten inches tall with a moustache, who was wearing a black jacket, gray sweatshirt, black knit cap, and black sneakers. The FBI has released surveillance images of the suspect.

Morales is a former Army reservist who was being held at Wyatt on charges that he stole 16 guns including some assault rifles from a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Worcester. The crime was committed while he was out on bail on child rape charges in Massachusetts, reports CBS Boston.

An FBI spokeswoman said the agency is working with Cambridge police.

Morales, 35, escaped from the Wyatt Detention Facility by climbing a basketball hoop to reach a rooftop, cutting through a fence and climbing through razor wire, according to authorities. Police believe Morales fled to Attleboro, Massachusetts, and stole a car that was found Sunday. 

At a news conference Tuesday, U.S. Marshal Jamie Hainsworth would not discuss details of the search but said Morales is likely injured with lacerations and might require medical attention. He asked for the public’s help and said people should notify authorities if they come across him.

“We know that he’s a dangerous individual,” Hainsworth said. “He may be armed.” 

Hainsworth also said while his immediate priority is to find Morales, they’re going to take a “hard look” at the Wyatt Detention Facility, which is privately run. 

The prison, located in Central Falls, has said it took more than three hours to discover Morales was missing. Two officers have been placed on paid leave.

On Tuesday, police detectives and a K-9 unit scoured a home on Irving Street in Framingham, Massachusetts, after the stolen car was found in that city, CBS Boston reports. 

One Framingham woman told reporters that Morales banged on her door around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, but later walked away.