Prison escapees caught in restaurant blocks by DNC

Authorities captured escaped Mississippi prisoner Joshua Zimmerman in Chicago around 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning, the U.S. Marshals Service told WORLD. The 30-year-old fugitive also faces a murder charge in Texas. Authorities tracked him down at a seafood restaurant a few blocks from the Democratic National Convention, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman said. Zimmerman barricaded himself in the restaurant’s ceiling after a failed arrest attempt Tuesday night, a service spokesman said. No civilians were in the restaurant with Zimmerman, according to a U.S. Marshals Service statement, and the Chicago Police Department’s SWAT team took over the scene. There is no information on how authorities captured Zimmerman.

Did Zimmerman go to the DNC? The Marshals believe Zimmerman worked at the seafood restaurant where he was arrested. There is no connection or threat to the DNC, the US Marshals Service said.

Why was Zimmerman originally imprisoned? Zimmerman escaped from the Desoto County Jail in Mississippi about two months ago, where he was charged with armed robbery and attempted murder, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Texas authorities have also been looking for Zimmerman on murder charges since September 2023.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report on the latest events at the DNC.