CHICAGO (CBS) – A suspect who fled a Mississippi court hearing in June was found in Chicago on Wednesday in an altercation with police at a West Side restaurant, authorities said.
CBS affiliate WREG-TV in Memphis reported that Joshua Zimmerman escaped from the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando, Mississippi on June 14. Authorities said he changed from a jumpsuit to civilian clothes and walked through a door where no officers were around, the station reported.
DeSoto County, Mississippi Sheriff’s Office
Zimmerman had been charged with attempted murder and armed robbery in an incident in Southaven, Mississippi last September. WREG reported that Zimmerman was accused of attacking an elderly man who had hired him to work on his house.
DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Justin Smith said Tuesday night that several law enforcement agencies, including the US Marshals Service, have been searching for Smith since he fled.
Smith said Zimmerman was found at Seafood Junction, at 2325 W. Madison St. just east of Western Avenue. The restaurant is only about half a mile west of the United Center, there The Democratic National Convention was in its second night Tuesday.
DeSoto County, Mississippi Sheriff’s Office
At a news conference, Smith said Zimmerman was barricaded by himself in the restaurant and was in a standoff with a SWAT team.
At the time of his escape, Zimmerman was also awaiting extradition to Houston, where he is charged with murder, the Marshals Service said, according to the Associated Press.
WREG reported that the charge stems from his alleged involvement in a shooting that left a woman dead at a Houston motel last September.