Warren County escape: Escaped Pennsylvania inmate is dangerous, has survivalist skills, authorities say
WARREN, Pa. (AP) -- Authorities were searching Saturday for an inmate described by police as "very dangerous" who escaped from Warren County Prison in northwestern Pennsylvania using bed sheets, according to the Warren police. Officials said he escaped by climbing on exercise equipment and using bed sheets tied together.
Michael Burham was last seen wearing a blue denim coat from the jail, white and orange pants, and orange Crocs shoes, Warren police said Friday.
Warren police said the area was being searched with K-9s and drones.
Burham was being held on arson and burglary charges and was a suspect in a homicide investigation, police said. He was also associated with a prior carjacking and kidnapping of a local couple, police said.
"He is considered very dangerous, and the public is asked to be vigilant and report anything out of the ordinary," police said in a Facebook post.
Federal, state and local agencies were involved in an expanded search beyond Warren on Saturday as Burham's whereabouts remained unknown, according to an update from police.
"Pennsylvania State Police have assumed incident command due to geographical jurisdictions and resources as the search expands throughout the county and into areas of NY," the Saturday update posted on Facebook said.
Officials are offering a reward of nearly $10,000 for information leading to Burham's apprehension. That includes a $75,000 reward from the US Marshals Service and $2,000 from Warren County Crime Stoppers.
State police believe that Burham may have gotten a hold of a firearm during his escape.
"Burham is a self-taught survivalist with military experience and could be potentially holed up in a wooded area near the city," Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said at a press conference Saturday.
Warren is in northern Pennsylvania about 18 miles from Jamestown, New York. It is just outside of the Allegheny National Forest.
Although Burham was last seen wearing an orange and white striped jumpsuit, denim jacket and crocs, he may have swapped out of his prison attire, Bivens said.
"We have no indication that he's being assisted by anyone at this point, but he is familiar [with] the area and … he is a survivalist and has survivalist skills," said Warren County spokesperson Cecile Stelter. "Right now, I believe that all of the resources are being concentrated on recapture and keeping the public safe," Stelter said. "We do not want people engaging with him in any way."
Residents in Warren County were advised to check their homes and surveillance cameras for any footage taken between Thursday at 11:30 p.m. to Friday at 12:30 a.m. and reach out to police if they see anything suspicious, Stelter said. Hunters should check their game cams, authorities said.
CNN reached out to the Warren County Prison, who declined to comment.
CNN contributed to this report.
