Posted on 09/13/2023 7:36:07 AM PDT by lightman
“Yes he had the firearm with him, yes he was a threat. I think the canine played a large role in him not being able to utilize that firearm,” Bivens said.
Bivens was in the command post when the capture happened and said, “I’m very happy no one was hurt when this occurred.”
“We will publish a list of everyone who helped us out because we are very, very appreciative,” Bivens said. He said it was this support that fueled Wednesday’s successful capture.
Bivens said Cavalcante liked to travel through creek beds and along tree lines, most frequently at night.
“We had a job to do and that was capture Cavalcante,” Gov. Shapiro said. “I’m proud to be associated with the Pennsylvania State Police. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
“Folks, whoever had their Eagles jersey stolen, let us know — I’d be happy to get you a new kelly green one,” Shapiro joked. Cavalcante was wearing an Eagles shirt when he was taken into custody.
State police said Cavalcante will be at the Avondale barracks long enough to be processed and interviewed by troopers.
“Canines play a very important role, not only for tracking, but for situations like this — safely capturing someone, Bivens said. State police said Cavalcante suffered a minor scalp wound when a state police dog bit him Wednesday morning.
Bivens said the dogs are trained to go to the wanted person and grab whatever piece of them they are able to reach and secure until state police reach the person and order the dog to release.
Cavalcante’s ability to steal a van and a gun are just examples of challenges state police encounter in wide-scale manhunts like this, Bivens said.
Bivens said he does not anticipate additional charges being filed in connection to Cavalcante’s escape, but that decision will be made with the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.
“I don’t know if there’s any single lesson. I will tell you, I’ve learned something from all of these [searches]. It’s about assembling the right group of people, the right technology. It’s worked for us in the past and I’m sure it’ll work for us in the future,” Bivens said.
About 20–25 officers were on the ground searching for Cavalcante on Wednesday, Bivens said.
Bivens said investigators were successful in preventing people who wanted to assist Cavalcante from connecting with him.
“I don’t know that he was particularly skilled — he was desperate. You have an individual who can spend the rest of their life in prison in a place they don’t want to be, or they can choose to evade capture. He chose to evade capture,” Bivens said. “I was confident all along that he was going to be captured. It’s never easy to find someone who doesn’t want to be found in a very large area.”
Border patrol and state police worked together on taking Cavalcante into custody Wednesday morning, Bivens said.
Bivens said he is not aware of any comments Cavalcante made when he was taken into custody.
“Those men and women worked amazingly hard through some incredibly challenging circumstances,” Bivens said.
Authorities said one of the first calls made with news of the capture was made to the family of Cavalcante’s victims.
Lt. Col. George Bivens said no one was hurt in the manhunt for Cavalcante.
State police had been working in a search perimeter in northern Chester County Tuesday night when a burglar alarm went off at a home on Kreiser Road. Cavalcante was not found there, but “it started to bring some of our people into that area,” Bivens said.
Bivens said state police had already been searching nearby when the burglar alarm was activated. Troopers picked up a heat signal around 1 a.m. and started to converge on the area where the heat signal was moving. However, the aircraft tracking the heat signal had to leave the area when an overnight storm rolled in, Bivens said.
Bivens said the search resumed early Wednesday. Investigators moved in very quietly, with an element of surprise, and took Cavalcante into custody shortly after 8 a.m.
Cavalcante tried to escape by crawling through the underbrush, still armed with a stolen rifle, according to Bivens.
“He continued to resist but was forcefully taken into custody,” Bivens said.
Cavalcante suffered a minor bite wound from a search dog, Bivens said.
Bivens said Cavalcante will be transferred to a state prison to start serving his life sentence for the 2021 killing of his ex-girlfriend.
Col. Christopher Paris dedicated his remarks to Cavalcante’s victims.
“We appreciate your support and we appreciate the dedication and generosity you have shown us,” Paris said to Chester County residents.
“To the women and men of the Pennsylvania State Police — thank you for your hard work and your diligence,” Paris said.
Cavalcante was captured without any shots fired, authorities said at Wednesday’s press conference.
Speaking at the press conference, Gov. Josh Shapiro credited the public for their vigilance and “tremendous” assistance during the last two weeks.
“We understand this has been a trying time” for Chester County residents, Shapiro said.
Escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante was captured Wednesday, 14 days after his escape from Chester County Prison, Pennsylvania State Police said.
ABC 6 Action News in Philadelphia reported that Cavalcante was hiding in a field in northern Chester County under foliage and a log. He was arrested just before 8:15 a.m. and is being taken to the state police’s Avondale barracks, according to the news report.
The Associated Press reported that searchers used thermal imaging to direct police on the ground to find and arrest Cavalcante.
“The capture of Cavalcante ends the nightmare of the past two weeks, and we thank every single law enforcement official at the regional, state and federal level that was out in all weather conditions, all day and night - as well as everyone in the incident command center, our County Department of Emergency Services and County Sheriff’s Office - for their immense efforts,” Chester County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell and Michelle Kichline said in a statement published by ABC 6.
A press conference is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Po-Mar-Lin Fire Co. in Kennett Square. Additional details on Cavalcante’s capture are expected to be released at that time.
Cavalcante was last reported Tuesday night to be within a search perimeter that covered a rural section of southeastern Pennsylvania. State police posted that the area covered South Coventry Township including Routes 23 and 100, Fairview and Nantmeal roads, and Iron Bridge and County Park roads.
Cavalcante escaped Chester County Prison on Aug. 31 while he awaited transfer to a state prison after receiving a life sentence for the 2021 killing of his ex-girlfriend. He is also wanted on homicide charges in his home country of Brazil in a 2017 killing.
Schools and Longwood Gardens were closed and residents were urged to shelter in place as police pursued Cavalcante across the region.
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Per the news conference Cavalcante is going to go straight into the State Prison system....taking no chances on returning him to the Chester County jail.
Ok, do the 60 million illegals next.
Of course he was. :-P
What,no happy ending? An ending where this punk dies in a hail of bullets?
And underneath he had a Washington Transgenders shirt.
Can he still vote in 2024? Asking for a friend....
We need many more trigger happy cops on the right side.
Illegals who commit MURDER should get the DEATH PENALTY with minimum appeals..................
As a Cowboys fan I am feeling very smug...................
The FBI would have killed this guy, they murder defenseless little old men frequently these days.
Knowing Pennsylvania as I do, I had figured there were pretty decent odds that he would have met his demise at the wrong end of a gun … not from the police, but from an armed citizen.
So he basically dressed like a Senator, Senator Fetterman.
And a Philadelphia Flyers jockstrap.
Sad that our justice system let him live after brutally killing people....here and in Brazil. What border did he come through. Maybe Biden knows.
I still hate to hear the preposterous cliche on true crime, news and fictional cop shows: “He’s going away to prison for a long, long time.”
In 2019, 2,231 inmates escaped from state or federal prisons in the United States. No statistic I ever found for 2022-2023.
Most guilty criminals get plea bargains for much lower sentences.
Time in prison is greatly reduced after sentencing and some time served.
Less of 5% of rapists get brought to trial and go to prison.
Most defendants get off due to contaminated evidence, dna lab problem, witnesses afraid to testify, jury tampering causing mistrial, recorded confession not allowed in court proceedings, jury not allowed to consider evidence and judge setting aside testimony, evidence or the verdict itself.
So, it was the result of the dogs being set upon him that he got all bloodied? Or, did they beat his a**?
The late Elmore Leonard was convinced “most criminals are dumb.” I disagreed for a long time but gradually agreed.
If this and other escapees would have been more intelligent they could have stayed out much longer.
We can thank the degenerate human race for that small favor.
IQs descending since 1946.
Ahhhhh.....Dog took him down. Interesting, cuz it seems they were careful about not mentioning dogs
The K-9 is the hero. Brought the prisoner down and held him until LE secured him. K-9’s are the BEST.
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