A Mississippi inmate escaped, apparently found work at a Chicago restaurant and then barricaded himself there, officials say

(CNN) — Authorities have captured Joshua Zimmerman, a Mississippi inmate who escaped two months ago and barricaded himself in a Chicago restaurant where he had apparently found a job, the US Marshals Service said Wednesday.

No other details were immediately released about Zimmerman’s capture, whether he was armed or if anyone was injured.

Zimmerman, 30, barricaded himself Tuesday at a seafood restaurant just blocks from where the Democratic National Convention was taking place, the US Marshals Service said.

Zimmerman “escaped June 14 from the Desoto County (Mississippi) Jail, where he was being held for armed robbery and attempted murder,” the marshals service said in a statement Tuesday. “Zimmerman is also wanted out of Texas for murder, allegedly committed in September 2023 and for parole violation out of Connecticut.”

DeSoto County is in northwest Mississippi, about 25 miles south of Memphis. It’s not clear how Zimmerman traveled to Chicago, said Justin Smith, chief deputy for the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office.

But “USMS investigators recently developed information that Zimmerman was in Chicago and sent a collateral lead to the (Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force), who positively identified Zimmerman in a seafood restaurant in the 2300 block of Madison Street, where it is believed he was working,” the marshals service said.

“During the arrest attempt, Zimmerman retreated into the ceiling and barricaded himself,” the USMS said. Although the restaurant is “in close proximity” to the site of the Democratic National Convention, the agency said, there was “no connection or threat to the event or those attending.”

It was not immediately clear whether Zimmerman has any personal ties to Chicago or why he fled to the city. The Mississippi sheriff’s office has said it hopes Zimmerman will be extradited.

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire

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