POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A murderer who brazenly escaped from a Pennsylvania jail was captured Wednesday in the woods by a team of tactical officers, bringing an end to an intensive search that terrified residents as the fugitive broke into homes for food, changed his appearance, and stole a van and rifle during two weeks on the run.
Law enforcement's big break came overnight as a plane fitted with a thermal imaging camera picked up Danelo Souza Cavalcante's heat signal, allowing tactical teams on the ground to secure the area, surround him and move in with search dogs.
“They were able to move in very quietly. They had the element of surprise,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said at a news conference. “Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded until that had occurred.”
Cavalcante — still armed with the rifle he stole from a homeowner's garage — tried to escape by crawling through thick underbrush. But a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer released a search dog that subdued him, said Bivens, adding that Cavalcante, who was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt, continued to resist as he was taken into custody after 8 a.m.
Cavalcante, 34, was bitten on the scalp and suffered a minor wound, Bivens said. Footage from a news helicopter showed an officer wiping Cavalcante’s bloody head and face with a towel.
No shots were fired.
“Our nightmare is finally over, and the good guys won,” said Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan.
State police had announced Cavalcante’s capture on social media earlier Wednesday, as the search entered its 14th day.
He was taken to a nearby state police barracks in an armored vehicle surrounded by a dozen-vehicle convoy with lights flashing and sirens blaring as it traveled down the highway. Some residents near the route turned out to watch the convoy pass, despite the short notice of his capture. Two police helicopters followed above.
“It was a little more emotional than I expected it to be. I think it was just days of anxiety, sleep deprivation, mixed with relief all at the same time,” said Kathleen Brady, who lives on the street where Cavalcante stole the gun Monday night.
Brady watched the procession as she and her young daughter returned home after staying elsewhere Tuesday night.
“We are back home. The streets are quiet once again. There were no checkpoints. The sun is coming out. The heat has dropped,” Brady said, describing the community's elation. “Poetic justice, and justice, all at the same time.”
Cavalcante was arraigned at the Avondale barracks on an escape charge, according to the office of Judge Matthew Seavey. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 27. He was led out of the barracks Wednesday afternoon with his hands and bare feet shackled, wearing what appeared to be a hospital gown. Cavalcante was to be driven to a state prison to continue serving the life sentence he received last month for killing his ex-girlfriend.
The endgame for Cavalcante unfolded just beyond Philadelphia's heavily populated western suburbs, in an area of woods, rolling farmland and a county park. Police brought in hundreds of law enforcement personnel with dogs, armored carriers, horses, and helicopters that circled over the rural stretch of southeastern Pennsylvania.
The long search forced schools to close at the start of the academic year, led to warnings for homeowners to lock their doors, and blocked roads over the busy Labor Day weekend. Overnight into Wednesday, heavily armed law enforcement officers searched for the fugitive through downpours and thunder.
A Drug Enforcement Administration plane picked up Cavalcante's heat signature around 1 a.m. and began tracking his movements, but the storms grounded the aircraft for a time, delaying his capture by several hours, Bivens said.
Cavalcante escaped from the Chester County jail in southeastern Pennsylvania on Aug. 31 by crab-walking up between two walls that were topped with razor wire, then jumping from the roof and dashing away. He had been awaiting transfer to state prison after being sentenced days earlier for fatally stabbing his girlfriend, and is wanted in connection with another killing in Brazil.
Authorities said over the weekend that Cavalcante had slipped out of the initial search area, shaved and changed his clothing, stole a vehicle to travel miles to seek aid from former co-workers in the northern part of the county, and then abandoned the vehicle, at least in part because it was low on fuel.
Authorities have declined to say how they think Cavalcante slipped out of the first search area, and officials had pushed back against questions about whether they blew a chance at that time to catch him.
Then, late Monday, a motorist alerted police to a man matching Cavalcante’s description crouching in the darkness along a line of trees near a road in northern Chester County. Police found footprints and tracked them to the prison shoes identical to those Cavalcante had been wearing. A pair of work boots was reported stolen from a porch nearby.
State police said they believe he was looking for a place to hide when he saw an open garage. There, he stole a .22-caliber rifle and ammunition, and fled when the homeowner, who was in the garage, drew a pistol and shot at him several times, state police said.
That led hundreds of law enforcement personnel to search an area of about 8 to 10 square miles near South Coventry Township, roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia. Cavalcante was captured inside the search perimeter, within a few hundred yards of its eastern edge.
“He was desperate, and it was just a matter of time,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said at the news conference.
People tried to help Cavalcante during his time on the run, Bivens said Wednesday, but authorities thwarted those attempts. He did not elaborate or say anyone had been charged criminally.
Authorities are unaware of anyone offering the fugitive material aid during nearly two weeks on the run, but they said his sister was evasive, giving police conflicting information that bordered on criminal obstruction. Rather than let those potential charges play out, they instead took steps to start the deportation process.
“She was detained because she was less than forthcoming with the information provided, … and her stories consistently changed. So we felt she was obstructing our investigation. Some of her actions were borderline criminal,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark said.
“We believe that she was trying to mislead law enforcement. And she quite possibly had the resources to aid her brother should he be able to get in contact,” he said. “We thought she needed to be taken out of the equation.”
They do not have any evidence that Cavalcante had yet obtained a cellphone or had any direct conversations with friends and family, he said.
Cavalcante’s escape and capture were big news in Brazil, where prosecutors in Tocantins state say he is accused of “double qualified homicide” in the 2017 slaying of Válter Júnior Moreira dos Reis in the municipality of Figueiropolis. Authorities say it was over a debt the victim owed him in connection with repair of a vehicle.
Pennsylvania authorities even broadcast a recording of Cavalcante’s mother speaking in Portuguese imploring him to surrender peacefully.
The prison tower guard on duty when Cavalcante escaped was fired. The escape went undetected for more than an hour until guards took a headcount.
Cavalcante was captured in a gray Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt that he either found or stole. Aerial footage showed an officer cutting it off Cavalcante as he was loaded into a police truck.
The governor promised to deliver a new one to the owner.
“Whoever had their Eagles hoodie stolen, if you could let us know," Shapiro said, “I’ll do my best to get you one of those new kelly green ones.”