A captured prison escapee may be responsible for a bank robbery attempt hours earlier, Massachusetts authorities said.
Police on Thursday afternoon apprehended James Walter Morales, who escaped a few days ago from a prison in Rhode Island.
According to Massachusetts State Police, Morales was arrested by a uniformed trooper in Somerville. Police were in the area after a second attempted bank robbery took place. Trooper Joseph Merrick spotted Morales and chased him two blocks, making the stop after Morales attempted to jump a fence.
Earlier on Thursday, a man who closely resembles Morales, a 35-year-old former Army reservist, tried to hold up a Cambridge bank but fled before getting any money, according to Trooper Dustin Fitch, spokesperson for Massachusetts State Police.
While it’s unclear whether the robbery try involved any weapons, state police previously issued a release warning that Morales should be considered armed and dangerous.
After interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance video from inside the bank, they believed that Morales, the subject of an intense regional manhunt since New Year’s Eve, was likely the person responsible, according to Fitch.
The robber was wearing a black jacket with a gray sweatshirt, black knit cap, a scarf and black sneakers, according to Boston FBI field office spokesperson Kristen Setera.
Morales escaped from the maximum security Wyatt Detention Center. Authorities believe Morales might have injured himself when he climbed over some razor wire, according the U.S. Marshal for Rhode Island Jamie Hainsworth.
Morales allegedly stole a car in Attleboro and drove to Framingham, where his former girlfriend lives, according to CNN affiliate WCVB.
Morales was in federal custody for the theft of 16 guns from the Lincoln W. Stoddard U.S. Army Reserve Center armory in Worcester, according to authorities
Morales was also wanted out of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in an alleged sexual assault of a child. Morales was out on bail in that case when the armory theft occurred, according to authorities.