The second prisoner who escaped a Philadelphia correctional center was arrested in the city’s Cobbs Creek neighborhood, officials said. NBC10’s Leah Uko has reactions from residents.
The second person who escaped this month from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center in Northeast Philadelphia has been apprehended, law enforcement officials said.
On Wednesday morning, Philadelphia Police Department Commissioner Danielle Outlaw noted on social media that Ameen Hurst had been captured without incident in the Cobbs Creek section of West Philadelphia.
Robert Clark, supervisory deputy for the U.S. Marshal's Office, in an address to the press on Wednesday morning, said that Hurst was apprehended at about 8:30 a.m. after his family had missed at least three deadlines to turn him in to law enforcement.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
Clark said that, after hours of negations with Hurst's family, he was arrested when he was spotted along with two family members getting into a vehicle outside of a property that officers had under surveillance.
"Nobody was playing," said Clark. "We were going to do whatever we had to do to bring in these two individuals and I couldn't be happier that we did it in ten days."
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
On May 7, the 18-year-old Hurst -- along with Nasir Grant, 24, who was apprehended last week -- escaped from prison by cutting a hole in a fence surrounding a recreation yard, according to investigators.
Officials said that the pair were gone for nearly 19 hours before officials knew they were missing.
Hurst was imprisoned after being charged in four homicides, including the deadly shooting of Rodney Hargrove outside the same facility he escaped from back in March of 2021.
Grant, incarcerated on drug and weapons counts, was captured last week in a North Philadelphia home.
Law enforcement officials said Grant was wearing women’s Muslim clothing including a head covering that obscured his face.
Grant is now facing escape and conspiracy charges and is being held on $10 million bail.
Four People Accused of Helping Grant and Hurst
Police also arrested Amir Woods, 24, of Philadelphia, on Wednesday for allegedly helping Grant and Hurst escape. Woods, who is Hurst's brother, is charged with criminal conspiracy, hindering apprehension and other related offenses.
Along with Woods, Jose Flores-Huerta, 35, Xianni Stalling, 21, and Michael Abrams, 21, were also arrested for allegedly helping Hurst and Grant escape.
Flores-Huerta is one of several people charged in the September 2021 death of a New York City man outside Pat's King of Steaks. Authorities said 28-year-old Isidro Cortez of Queens was beaten with a trash can lid and pummeled, and that two other people, including his father, were injured before the suspects fled in a SUV. At a preliminary hearing last year, his lawyer contended that two other suspects who haven't been caught were primarily responsible.
Court documents indicate that Flores-Huerta is being represented by the Defender Association of Philadelphia in the escape case; messages seeking comment were sent Saturday to the association and to his attorney in the earlier case.
Stalling is accused of putting Hurst in touch with a potential getaway driver during recorded phone calls he made from jail hours before the escape. She's being held on $500,000 bail; the public defender’s office has declined comment.
Abrams -- who is an associate of Hurst -- was arrested by the U.S. Marshals at the Fairfield Inn in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, Monday afternoon. He is charged with criminal conspiracy, hindering apprehension, escape and use of a communication facility.
This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
