FRAMINGHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A manhunt for a Rhode Island inmate who escaped a detention center on New Year’s Eve has led investigators to Framingham.
Former Army reservist Morales, 35, escaped from the Wyatt Detention Facility on New Year’s Eve. The warden said Morales climbed a basketball hoop, jumped to a rooftop and then scaled the barbed wire fence and cut it using a makeshift tool. He then walked away from the facility.
Police said within in an hour Morales fled to Attleboro, where he stole a car. Officials found the stolen car on Irving Street in Framingham Monday night.
Witness Venessa Lugo said she encountered Morales the same night he escaped the detention center. Lugo said the escaped inmate knocked on her door in Framingham at 10:30 on New Year’s Eve.
“He didn’t say anything, he just banged really loudly, like ‘boom, boom, boom’,” Lugo said.
She said she did not know who the man was when he arrived at her door, allegedly wearing gray sweatpants and a black-hooded sweatshirt.
Lugo said Morales visibly had no blood on him and was by himself. Lugo said the criminal appeared calm: “He was perfectly fine…no stress, no nothing.”
Sources tell 7News that the inmate’s ex-girlfriend lives upstairs from Lugo.
The witness said FBI investigators missed Morales by an hour, and it was only then she realized who she had spoken to.
“I’m very scared,” Lugo said, adding that she hopes the escapee will be caught soon.
Lugo said she last saw Morales walking toward a Tedeschi convenience store.
Investigators said they found the car stolen by an escaped Rhode Island inmate in Framingham Monday night.
Morales was arrested last year for stealing 16 guns from an Army Reserve center in Worcester. He was also facing rape charges.
Two officers at the detention center where Morales escaped from were placed on administrative duty.
A neighbor said he noticed cruisers in the area and police going into apartments on the street.
Police said Morales is dangerous and possibly armed. He was last seen wearing gray sweatpants, a gray sweatshirt and black sneakers. He has a large tattoo of an eagle on the left side of his neck.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact police.
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