Escaped Mississippi prisoner arrested in Chicago after barricading himself in restaurant near DNC site

CHICAGO (CBS) – A suspect who fled during a court hearing in Mississippi in June was found in Chicago and taken into custody after a standoff with police at a West Side restaurant, authorities said.

CBS affiliate WREG-TV in Memphis reported that Joshua Zimmerman escaped from the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando, Mississippi, on June 14. Authorities said he changed his overalls into civilian clothes and fled through a door that had no police officers behind it, the station reported.

Zimmerman was charged with attempted murder and armed robbery in Southaven, Mississippi, in September of last year. WREG reported that Zimmerman was accused of attacking an elderly man who had hired him as a caretaker.

Zimmerman was taken into custody Wednesday morning.

DeSoto County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Smith said Tuesday night that several law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service, have been searching for Smith since his escape.

Smith said Zimmerman was found at Seafood Junction, 2325 W. Madison St., east of Western Avenue. The restaurant is just about a half-mile west of the United Center, where the The Democratic National Convention entered its second night on Tuesday..

It is still unclear when Zimmerman arrived in Chicago. What is known is that Zimmerman worked at Seafood Junction – and when US Marshals entered the restaurant to arrest him, he “barricaded himself in the ceiling and barricaded himself in.”

CBS News Chicago obtained a video of Zimmerman taken at Seafood Junction this month. A person who wishes to remain anonymous thought a man in the video resembled Zimmerman after seeing social media posts with his image.

Another person, who wished to keep his name anonymous, said he often comes to the mall where Seafood Junction is located for lunch.

He asked how Zimmerman got a job at Seafood Junction.

“That really surprised me,” he said. “They’re supposed to check everyone’s background before they go to work – and that’s not fair to people.”

John Chan watched as a SWAT team wearing gas masks entered the King Wok, a gourmet Chinese restaurant next door where he works.

“I watched this,” he said. “Stayed up all night and even came here at 4:30 in the morning. I saw the SWAT team put their masks on and that’s a clue. I think they all went up to the roof.”

Questions also remain about how Zimmerman was able to get to Chicago and get a job there. Law enforcement was investigating all of those questions late Wednesday.

U.S. Marshal’s Service investigators said they gathered information that led them to the restaurant – and that led to Zimmerman’s arrest.

When he escaped, Zimmerman was awaiting extradition to Houston, where he faces murder charges, according to the Associated Press, the Marshals Service said.

WREG reported that the charges stem from his alleged involvement in a shooting that left a woman dead at a Houston motel last September.