What to Know
- The 25-year-old prisoner who busted out of a Connecticut correctional institution last week has been detained
- Authorities said that Jerry Mercado, who was thought to be in New York City after the prison break, was arrested in Canton, Georgia
- Police said Mercado was thought to have gotten out of the Carl Robinson Correctional Institution by stowing away under a vehicle on Jan. 7
The 25-year-old prisoner who escaped from a Connecticut prison earlier this month was captured in Georgia.
Jerry Mercado was detained at a gas station in the Atlanta suburb of Canton, Georgia, on Wednesday afternoon after the U.S. Marshals Service acted on a tip they got, officials said.
It comes after marshals had raised the reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest of Mercado, who busted out of the Carl Robinson Correctional Institution in Enfield on Jan. 7.
Police said he might have escaped from the prison by stowing away under a vehicle that morning, and officials said Tuesday he was thought to be in New York City and was riding the subway in an attempt to fit in. But officials said Wednesday he left Manhattan and headed for Georgia at some point.
During a news conference on Jan. 8, state Department of Correction (DOC) Commissioner Scott Semple said investigators believed a vehicle was involved in the escape because there were no breaches to the facility's outer fence.
Semple said there were two vehicles on the property that day - a state police van and a garbage truck - and investigators are looking into whether Mercado stowed away under one of the vehicles to escape.
Mercado, who is from Hartford, was serving a three-year sentence for third-degree burglary charges at the time of the escape. Officials from the DOC said he is classified as a "low risk" offender.
Carl Robinson is primarily a dormitory-style facility that houses around 1,500 inmates on Shaker Road in Enfield.
