[Editor's note at 3:59 p.m.: Here's the latest information we have concerning the escape of Alberto Morales last night. The original item, along with the audio and video and updates, follow.]
A manhunt expanded across the state Tuesday for a violent Miami fugitive who escaped his cross-country escorts in the parking lot of a Grapevine Wal-Mart after stabbing one of them with his eyeglasses.
A little before 3:40 this afternoon the Texas Department of Public Safety activated its seldom-used Blue Alert, and multiple local law-enforcement agencies, as well as the U.S. Marshals Service and officers from the Miami-Dade police department who?ve flown to Texas, are tracking 42-year-old Alberto Morales, a violent sex offender. Till last night he was looking at 10 years in a Nevada prison. Now, say authorities, he?ll be charged with ?everything,? including the attempted murder of a police officer and escape.
Alberto Morales (Miami-Dade)
Following his escape around 11 Monday night from the Wal-Mart at 1601 W. State Highway 114, the Texas Department of Public Safety has added Morales to its most-wanted fugitives list, and a reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information leading to his capture. Grapevine police say Morales may have also stolen a 2008 white Ford SUV, with Texas plates 19ZJW8, from a nearby Irving motel. It?s being referred to as a ?vehicle of interest.? There was a handgun inside.
At 2:52 p.m. Tuesday, a Grapevine police spokesperson said there have been no confirmed sightings of Morales ?at this point.? At 3:21 p.m., Trophy Club sent a note to its residents saying ?information from several law enforcement agencies indicates that the fugitive who escaped from custody in Grapevine last night is no longer believed to be in the area.?
But Grapevine police spokesman Sgt. Robert Eberling says there is ?no specific information he was every sighted in Trophy Club.?
The search has been expanded to include most of North Texas and points beyond, but Eberling says police ?still consider him to be in the area. We don?t have any reason to believe he?s left the area. We?re turning over the same rocks we did 12 hours ago and covering any ground we haven?t before.? And they?ll continue to do so, he says, ?until we get any leads we can confirm he?s moved on or been captured.?
Police have received hundreds of tips, but haven?t confirmed anything concerning Morales? whereabouts. At this point, says Eberling, ?Anything is possible.?
?This is an extremely dangerous individual, and he?s capable of anything,? he says. ?He showed that last night, the way he escaped. He needs to be treated as such. We said this earlier: If anyone knows of co-workers in Grapevine who didn?t show up to work today, we want to hear about it.?
Miami and Grapevine police tell the same story concerning Morales? escape: Monday night 54-year-old Jaime Pardinas and David Carrero, detectives and members of the Miami-Dade department?s extradition unit, were transporting the prisoner from Florida to Carson City, Nevada, where?s he?s due to be incarcerated following a sexual battery conviction.
He is scheduled to serve that 10-year sentence concurrently with one in Miami, where, authorities say, he pleaded guilty to several charges, among them armed burglary, kidnapping, aggravated battery and sexual assault with a deadly weapon.
Miami-Dade Police Director J.D. Patterson said Tuesday that Pardinas, a 28-year veteran of the department, and his partner David Carrero, a seven-year veteran, were transporting Morales from Miami to Nevada via commercial plane, with a scheduled layover in Houston. But Patterson said the prisoner became ?very agitated and ? erratic? during the plane ride.
?He began bumping his head against a passenger?s seat,? Patterson said, ?crazy, unusual things that disrupted a lot of the flight.?
The plane landed in Houston, said Patterson, at which point the officers were told Morales couldn?t finish the flight to Nevada. Eberling says, ?They landed in Houston and drove to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to meet another detective from the Miami-Dade Police Department.?
So the officers ?made an effort to transport him by rental car,? said Patterson. During that drive to Las Vegas, he said, they stopped at the Grapevine Wal-Mart ? ?to use the restroom,? according to a Miami-Dade release. That?s when Morales, who was in the rental car and who had been shackled to a belly band, somehow managed to stab Pardinas several times in the chest and back.
Eberling said it appears Morales ?broke the earpiece off his own eyeglasses and was able to stab the detective in front of him. That?s an indication of how desperate he was to escape.? And officers say no shackles were found at the scene or nearby.
Patterson said renting a car to transport a convict cross-country is ?out of the ordinary, but to continue their trip they had to do something.? He said Miami authorities were informed of their change in plans, per standard guidelines.
?But we really don?t know all the details about what happened and how the incident occurred and how they reacted,? Patterson said. ?Our officer?s in the hospital recovering, the other one?s safe and we?re doing everything we can to apprehend Mr. Morales.?
Pardinas underwent emergency surgery at Parkland Tuesday morning, and he?s said to be in serious but stable condition. His family has flown to Dallas from Miami.
Meanwhile, schools in Grapevine, Colleyville and neighboring cities are on ?soft lockdown? during the manhunt. And residents are being left messages warning them of the ?dangerous wanted fugitive? on the loose, per a voice mail being left with folks living in Trophy Club.
Police say Morales is 5-foot-7, weighs 175 pounds, has brown eyes, brown hair and is of Cuban descent. According to the Department of Public Safety Morales has ?a tattoo of a Native American on a horse on left shoulder and upper left arm,? as well as scars on his left hand, left arm and nose.
Grapevine police say he was last seen fleeing on foot in gray shorts and an all-white hoodie. He?s still believed believed to be on foot and in shackles.
Staff writer Mia Castillo contributed to this report.
Below are the original items and updates as they appeared on the Crime blog throughout the day:
Update at 1:27 p.m.: Below is a voice-mail message left for Trophy Club residents in which they?re warned of a ?dangerous wanted fugitive? on the loose. The message refers to a sighting on White Chapel in Southlake; Grapevine PD says, ?We can?t confirm that was a true sighting at this point.?
Update at 12:51 p.m.: Grapevine police say they?re looking for a white Ford SUV ? possibly an Expedition or Explorer ? that was reported stolen from the Super 8 Motel at 4470 W. State Highway 114 in Irving. Grapevine PD spokesman Robert Eberling stresses: This may have something to do with fugitive Alberto Morales ?because the vehicle was stolen in close proximity to the last known whereabouts of Morales.? And because ti was stolen some time between 10 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. today.
But ?in no way do we have information Morales has taken this vehicle,? says Eberling.
The SUV has Texas plates 19ZJW8. And there is one more thing to note, per Eberling: ?The vehicle also contained a handgun inside.?
You?re asked to call 911 if you see the SUV.
Update at 12:08 p.m.: Schools in and around Grapevine are more or less on lockdown while officers from myriad local agencies continue to look for Alberto Morales, who remains on the loose more than 13 hours after he stabbed a Miami-Dade officer in a Wal-Mart parking lot while en route to Nevada. The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD website noes that while ?police do not have any reason to believe that any of our schools or facilities are at risk,? all the exterior doors at district schools are being kept locked as a precaution.
Meanwhile, the Carroll ISD says on its website that ?police have increased patrols around our schools and our principals and staff will have an increased presence during student drop-off times.? Campuses in Southlake are on what they?re calling ?soft lockdown,? which will be lifted ?once local law enforcement and school officials feel it is safe to do so.?
Alberto Morales (Texas DPS)
Update at 11:01 a.m.: Miami-Dade Police just sent a press release recounting what the department knows about Alberto Morales? escape and the stabbing of Detective Jaime Pardinas in the Grapevine Wal-Mart parking lot last night. Much of the release recounts what we?ve already reported this morning. But there are a few new details, among them how Morales landed in police custody to begin with and what he was doing being transported to Nevada last night.
Says the release:
Alberto Morales was apprehended in Nevada in 2008 and was brought to Miami, Florida, where he was incarcerated pending the resolution of a 2003 City of Miami case for the following charges: two counts of Burglary/With Assault or Battery Armed, two counts of Kidnapping/With a Weapon to Aggravated Battery, and five counts of Sexual Battery/With a Deadly Weapon/Serious Injury. On December 3, 2012, Morales entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment which is to run consecutive to the Nevada sentence.
Detectives Pardinas and [David] Carrero were transporting Morales back to Nevada on a Miami-Houston-Las Vegas flight. Prior to landing in Houston, Morales began acting erratically. As a result of this behavior, they were not allowed to board the connecting flight to Las Vegas. The detectives rented a vehicle and continued to carry out their duties of delivering the prisoner to his final destination. A third detective was en route to meet them in Dallas to assist with the ground transport. During a stop in Grapevine, Texas, awaiting the third detective?s arrival, they stopped at a local establishment to use the restroom. While one of the detectives was inside the establishment, Morales used an unknown weapon to stab Det. Pardinas multiple times and then fled the scene. A perimeter was immediately established and a manhunt ensued.
Which is where we remain 12 hours later.
Grapevine police say he was last seen fleeing on foot in gray shorts and all-white hoodie. He?s still believed believed to be on foot and in shackles.
?He?s prepared to do anything,? said Grapevine PD spokesman Sgt. Robert Eberling.
Update at 10:47 a.m.: The Texas Department of Public Safety has added Alberto Morales to its list of Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, and a reward of up to $10,000 is now being offered for information leading to his capture. According to the DPS, which posted this new photo of Morales, he has ?a tattoo of a Native American on a horse on left shoulder and upper left arm,? as well as scars on his left hand, left arm and nose.
DPS also reports the following:
Alberto MORALES was born in Havana, Cuba. He was sentenced to serve a life sentence for two counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault and was to be transported from Miami, Florida, to Carson City, Nevada. During transport, while near the Dallas/Fort Worth area, he armed himself with an object and stabbed a Miami detective five times. This attack happened at 11:20 pm on the evening of February 11, 2013. The detective underwent surgery and is currently in stable condition.
On February 12, 2013, the Grapevine Police Department issued four warrants for MORALES? arrest, including Attempted Capital Murder, Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer, and Escape.
MORALES has no family in the Dallas area but has family in both Florida and Nevada. He was last seen wearing a white hoodie and shorts, color unknown, with one shoe missing. He may attempt to break into homes in order to obtain food and/or clothing.
Update at 8:42 a.m.: As a just-concluded press conference outside his Florida headquarters, Miami-Dade Police Director J.D. Patterson told reporters that it?s still unclear how Alberto Morales escaped two of his officers at a Grapevine Wal-Mart last night. He also identified the officer currently recovering from multiple stab wounds at Parkland Memorial Hospital: Jaime Pardinas, a 28-year veteran of the Miami-Dade police force. His family is currently en route to Dallas, where the officer is in serious but stable condition following last night?s stabbing.
According to Patterson, Pardinas and his partner David Carrero, a seven-year veteran, are part of the department?s extradition unit, which was tasked with transporting Morales from Miami to Houston to Las Vegas, where he was due to be incarcerated following a sexual battery conviction in Nevada. But they never made it: According to Patterson, the prisoner became ?very agitated and ? erratic? during the plane ride from Florida.
Alberto Morales (Miami-Dade)
?He began bumping his head against a passenger?s seat,? Patterson said, ?crazy, unusual things that disrupted a lot of the flight.?
The plane landed in Houston, said Patterson, at which point the officers were told Morales ?couldn?t board the plane.? Grapevine police spokesman Sgt. Robert Eberling confirms: ?They landed in Houston and drove to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to meet another detective from the Miami-Dade Police Department.?
So the officers ?made an effort to transport him by rental car,? said Patterson. During that drive to Las Vegas, he said, they stopped at the Grapevine Wal-Mart. And that?s where Morales, who had been shackled to a belly band, somehow managed to stab Pardinas several times in the chest and back.
Eberling says it appears Morales ?broke the earpiece off his own eyeglasses and was able to stab the detective in front of him. That?s an indicate of how desperate he was to escape.?
Eberling says no shackles have been found at the scene or nearby.
Miami-Dade police supervisors have been flown to Texas to assist in the ongoing manhunt for Morales; also involved are several neighboring police agencies and U.S. Marshals.
Patterson said he?s not certain how Morales got a weapon or ?how he got the handcuffs free.? And he did acknowledge: Renting a car to transport a convict cross-country is ?out of the ordinary, but to continue their trip they had to do something.? He said Miami authorities were informed of their change in plans, per standard guidelines.
?But we really don?t know all the details about what happened and how the incident occurred and how they reacted,? Patterson said. ?Our officer?s in the hospital recovering, the other one?s safe and we?re doing everything we can to apprehend Mr. Morales.?
The command center currently set up in the Grapevine Wal-Mart parking lot (Kye Lee/Staff photographer)
Update at 8:14 a.m.: Miami-Dade police scheduled a press conference for 8 a.m. Dallas time that has yet to begin. But a spokesperson for the department tells The News that ?most of it will be the same as what you have out of Dallas.? She could offer no further information about why the officers decided to drive to Las Vegas from Dallas/Fort Worth International. Updates to come in a moment.
Original item at 6:15 a.m.: Police agencies throughout North Texas are looking for Alberto Morales, who, until around 11 last night, had been in the custody of Miami-Dade police officers tasked with transporting him from Florida to Nevada. But Monday night, in the parking lot of a Grapevine Wal-Mart, Morales escaped after repeatedly stabbing one of the officers, who was transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital.
The officer, who just got out of surgery, is expected to recover. But earlier this morning, the Denton Police Department tweeted the photo at right along with the warning, ?Consider Alberto Morales armed & DANGEROUS! Do not approach him! Call 911 right away!? Among his myriad felonies: kidnapping with a weapon, aggravated battery and sexual battery with a deadly weapon.
Authorities say the officers were transporting Morales, 42, from Miami to Las Vegas for a court hearing. But the prisoner began acting ?strange? on the plane, and during a scheduled layover at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport the officers decided to deplane and rent a SUV to drive the rest of the way.
At the beginning of their road trip, the officers pulled over at the Wal-Mart at 1601 West State Highway 114. One went inside; the other stayed outside with Morales.
Police aren?t sure what happened next, except that the prisoner ? who?s wearing a belly band to which he?s shackled ? got his hands on ?some sort of object and stabbed the other officer? once in the chest and three times in the back, says Grapevine Police spokesperson Lt. Barry Bowling. Morales then ran away ? still shackled, police believe.
Bowling reiterates: Morales is ?dangerous.? Nevertheless, he says, police are seeking the public?s help in locating the prisoner. Police say he?s 5-foot-7, weighs 175 pounds, has brown eyes, brown hair and is of Cuban descent.
A police command center has been set up in the Wal-Mart parking lot. More to come.
Staff writer Mia Castillo contributed to this report.
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