Prison Escapee Run Ends Thanks to Yoda

Photo on left: captured from CBS Philadelphia X account

After 2 long weeks of search operation for a convicted murderer, Danelo Cavalcante (34) who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison on Aug. 31, the manhunt has finally ended. The murderer was captured, and the police dog, Yoda was the first hero of this mission among over the 20 officers from local, FBI, and CBP law enforcement that led to Cavalcante’s capture at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police confirmed at a news conference that Cavalcante was apprehended just after 8 a.m., by members of a tactical team leading the manhunt. No shots were fired, according to CBS News.

Cavalcante’s photo was captured from a doorbell camera from his acquaintance’ house last week, and tactical teams and an aircraft picked up a heat signal at 1 a.m. in an area near their search perimeter in northern West Chester County where severe weather surrounded the region. The aircraft couldn’t fly continuously due to the weather. Nonetheless, the law enforcement officers and the tactical team approached without alerting the prison escapee of their presence.

“They were able to move in very quietly [as] they had the element of surprise,” Bivens said.

The tactical team sent the police dog Yoda first to the place where the Cavalcante was hiding, as the escapee was armed with a rifle that he had stolen at one residence earlier.

Cavalcante tried to escape by crawling “through thick underbrush,” Bivens continued, “taking his rifle with him when he went.” He said Cavalcante was subdued by a police dog and “forcibly taken into custody” after resisting officers as they attempted to arrest him. Cavalcante sustained “a minor bite wound,” according to Bivens, but there were no other injuries. The escapee was transported to a police station in Avondale for questioning before being booked into SCI Phoenix, a state maximum-security prison in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said.

May the force be with Yoda, the brave police dog as he continues his service. Good boy!