OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
12:49 PM – Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Authorities reported that during a 15-hour standoff with police at a Chicago restaurant, located only a few blocks from the Democratic National Convention, a man wanted for murder and armed robbery charges was brought into custody on Wednesday.
The U.S. Marshals Service had been looking for Joshua Zimmerman, 30, ever since he broke out of a Mississippi courthouse in June. According to Justin Smith, head deputy of the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi, he was spotted at the restaurant on Tuesday.
An agency task group found that Zimmerman had been employed at a seafood restaurant after investigators discovered he was in Chicago.
“During the arrest attempt, Zimmerman retreated into the ceiling and barricaded himself” before a Chicago police SWAT team was called to the scene, the agency said in a statement.
The United Center, the site of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), is roughly 0.5 miles away from the restaurant. Nevertheless, police said that there was “no connection or threat to the event or those attending,” according to the Marshals Service, was present.
“Without using Zimmerman’s name, the Chicago Police Department said a person was taken into custody about 7:20 a.m. and that the SWAT action that began about 4 p.m. Tuesday had ended,” KTLA reported.
Zimmerman was being held on accusations of attempted murder and armed robbery when he broke out of the circuit court facility in Hernando, Mississippi, according to the Marshals Service. He was also awaiting extradition to Houston, Texas, where he faces murder charges.
Zimmerman was wearing street clothes when he made his getaway. He was not handcuffed and was shown in a courtroom surveillance camera snapshot sporting a white shirt and khaki jeans.
Smith informed reporters that investigations into Zimmerman’s escape and the reason he was not wearing handcuffs were being conducted by the sheriff’s office and other agencies. He claimed that the police wanted to return him to Mississippi.
“That’s why we’re excited to actually get a chance to sit down with Zimmerman and get some more facts,” Smith said.
In Harris County, Texas, court documents, Zimmerman is charged with murdering a woman named Keyanna Mercer on September 2nd, 2023, at a motel in Houston.
Following several phone calls about fighting, the motel staff asked the two to leave the premises. When workers went back to check on them, they discovered Mercer’s body with a gunshot wound to the head, according to the police.
Additionally, according to court documents, Zimmerman was detained in Connecticut in 2022 on suspicion of felony sexual assault. After entering a not guilty plea and being released on a $200,000 bond, a warrant for his re-arrest was subsequently issued. Details about the case were not immediately made available by Connecticut State Police.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
