Fugitive Pennsylvania inmate captured leaving gym 200 miles away

After vanishing from a Pennsylvania prison nearly four months ago, an escapee has been arrested while coming out of a gym more than 200 miles away.

Isaiah Tilghman, 33, was last seen at the Blair County Prison in Hollidaysburg on 3 December 2023.

He was being held for drug-related offences and violation of his parole.

The US Marshals Service said on Friday that its officers had spent the past few months following leads that Tilghman was travelling throughout Pennsylvania, with the past week leading them to Philadelphia .

On Wednesday, Marshals carried out surveillance at a property in the Kensington area of the city.

They saw him emerge from a residence on the 1800 block of East Schiller Street on Friday morning.

The officers followed Tilghman to a Planet Fitness on Aramingo Avenue. The Service then called in the Philadelphia Police Department and Philly K-9 officers to assist them.

When Tilghman emerged from the gym, he found himself surrounded by law enforcement, who placed him under arrest.

“This arrest was a result of Fugitive Task Forces in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, diligently working together, to capture a dangerous escapee,” Robert Clark, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force, said in a press release.

“The Marshals Service is unequivocally the best in the business at finding people who do not wish to be found and this arrest reinforces that fact.”

Tilghman now faces additional charges in relation to his escape. He was being held at an undisclosed correctional facility, as of Friday afternoon.