CHARLTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Authorities located an armed robbery suspect in Lowell Tuesday afternoon, hours after he escaped state police custody in Charlton with a handcuff on one hand.
Troopers tried to arrest the 29-year-old Luis Morales at the Charlton Service Plaza on numerous warrants for charges including armed robbery and illegal firearms shortly after 8 a.m. but he fled on foot into the woods near the Charlton Plaza on the Mass. Pike, according to state police.
The SUV that the suspect had run from was found an hour later at a Walmart off Route 146 in Worcester, state police said. The female driver was detained.
Around 10:15 a.m., the search in the woods near the plaza was terminated after Morales could not be found, state police added.
Investigators later began surveilling locations in Lowell, where Morales has ties, and were able to identify him as a passenger in a vehicle there. While trying to take him into custody for a second time, officers say the driver fled and the pursuit had to be called off for safety reasons.
The car was later found parked in the lot of an apartment complex on Pawtucket Boulevard and both Morales and the driver were seen running into the building.
He was placed under arrest at an apartment inside without further incident.
The driver, whose name was not released. will also be summonsed to court for multiple charges regarding the pursuit
An investigation remains ongoing.
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