A 17-year-old suspect in a 2020 murder walked away from police Wednesday in Philadelphia and remains at large.
Shane Pryor escaped while being sent from the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for treatment on an injured hand, police said, according to CNN.
“Shane Pryor is a dangerous and desperate individual and we will use every available resource to bring him back into custody,” Robert Clark, supervisory deputy U.S. Marshal, said in a statement.
A reward of $5,000 has been posted.
📍 #Philadelphia | #Pennsylvania
💢 Manhunt for Escaped Prisoner Shane Pryor
¦ Shane Pryor, 17, escaped custody in the University City area of Philadelphia. Police consider him dangerous.
¦ Pryor was last spotted near University Avenue and Civic Center Boulevard. Police… pic.twitter.com/nKxZuJEKS2
— nik t. hatziefstathiou (@nikthehat) January 24, 2024
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Frank Vanore, deputy commissioner of investigations for Philadelphia police, said Pryor escaped from a detention center vehicle. Based on surveillance video, Pryor was not restrained at the time of his escape, he said.
Sgt. Eric Gripp, a representative of the Philadelphia Police Department, said standard practice is for suspects to be handcuffed and shackled during transport.
Pryor was seen on surveillance video trying to get access to a phone at the hospital, then was seen on surveillance video entering buildings as well as asking passersby for help.
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Murder escapee, Shane Pryor, escaped from his escorting staff yesterday at 11:51 am and 5 minutes later was observed in the lobby of the Hub for Clinical Collaboration building. By 12:29 pm, investigators believe Pryor had obtained transportion out of University City. pic.twitter.com/yVpXFeFDcm
— U.S. Marshals Service Philadelphia (@USMS_Philly) January 25, 2024
Police have arrested Michael Diggs, 18, in connection with Pryor’s flight from the area of his escape, according to WCAU-TV.
Diggs is charged with hindering apprehension, escape, use of communication facility and criminal conspiracy, police said.
Police said they believe Pryor was able to call for help fleeing the area within an hour of his escape, and that he was picked up from the area of the hospital and driven to an undisclosed location.
The vehicle was stopped Wednesday night, but Diggs was the only person in the vehicle, police said.
Pryor was being tried as an adult on the 2020 murder charge and had been in the detention center since he was 14, Vanore said, according to CNN.
Paul DiMaio, Pryor’s defense attorney, said Pryor “always maintained his innocence” and also said he had no idea why his client ran away.
“The only thing I can speculate is I know from talking to his mother and talking to him (that) he was really scared and really frustrated that the system kind of failed him (by trying him as an adult),” he said.
“He never mentioned anything like this, I never had indication he would even do something like this,” Pryor’s mother told WCAU-TV, which withheld her name.
