CHESTER COUNTY, Pa – Danelo Cavalcante crabbed walked up a hallway, climbed over a fence, and led over 100 police officers on a manhunt for 13 days in the forests and lonesome areas of Pennsylvania.
Cavalcante was captured this morning in Chester County, Pa. while crawling through the undergrowth.
Witnesses who saw Cavalcante being captured said Cavalcante, “looked worn out…like he has just given up.”
The final hours of the chase. Late last night, a crew aboard an airplane operated by the Drug Enforcement Agency registered an abnormal heat signature on the ground. The crew believed the heat signature to be a person, possibly Cavalcante, and they communicated that information to the officers on the ground who tried to close-in on the area.
A thunderstorm came in and temporarily halted the search efforts overnight. But around 8 am EDT, officers moved silently into the area where the heat signature was located and subsequently surrounded Cavalcante.
Cavalcante tried to crawl through the brush while in possession of a rifle. One officer, who handled a dog, unleased the animal. The dog held Cavalcante at bay while the officers made the arrest. Cavalcante suffered a minor dog-bite while being captured.
The arresting officers have already received criticism for posing around Cavalcante and taking a picture. The posing of the picture is reminiscent of something that may have happened at the prison in Guantanamo, Cuba or in Wyatt Earp’s Wild West. Their empathy for the prisoner is now being questioned.
