CCJ Escapee: The Story Thus Far + Local Media Commentary

If you're here for just the story and not the commentary, scroll down to the big orange OK. Otherwise, some commentary:

Well well well. It looks like, apart from WQYX/WCPA (who originally reported the story locally over the air but not online) and WOKW (who first reported the inmate's capture), everybody's late to the party. Boy, it's a good thing SOMEONE was covering this story as it unfolded! Because then everyone would have to wait for these lame fuckers to get with the program and tell them what's going on.

From WJAC 6 in Johnstown, PA - who hadn't even heard this story until I called them - comes this little blurb on their website, including some of their news video. Yesterday, it was reported that WJAC's crew on the scene was pissing authorities off by not remaining in the designated press staging area. We figure that, since they were late to the game, they were trying to play catch-up by bending the rules and trying for a scoop. They're reporting that Rodriguez was injured but able to walk to the ambulance, which conflicts with my reports of Rodriguez's legs being barely able to bend correctly, let alone carry him up a hill. They also give the new location of Lecontes Mills, where the police began chasing him towards his fate on 879.

WTAJ 10 out of Altoona, PA has an article on their big advertising behemoth of a shit-tastic website, confirming that Rodriguez is, in fact, from Buffalo, NY (which would explain the big influx of traffic to my site from that area via Google searches), and reports that the time of capture as 10:30am. WTAJ was aware of the story when I called, and had dispatched reporter Danielle Kraut to the scene, who filed reports via phone on last evening's newscast.

Also on deck is the "blog" (another Blogger account, no less) of a so-called News Radio station, WESB 1490AM out of Bradford, PA (greetings to my friends there). Hahaha. Like WTAJ, they have a main Website that's totally ad-saturated, and doesn't have much content of interest at all.

One of my Twitter rivals, the Centre Daily Times (news rag out of State College, PA), has pretty much been silent on the whole story. That's some fine reporting there, Lou. Not one single tweet of theirs had anything to do with this story: They were more concerned about the tragic accidental death of a Penn State student (alcohol was a factor) and more bullshit Homeland Security nonsense about those ever-so-scary turr'sts.

(Note: I am in no way trying to marginalize the tragedy befalling Joseph Dado. It is a sad story indeed, and my sympathies are with his family and friends.)

What's the point of all this ranting? To illustrate the absolute and utter failure of the local news media - including affiliates from all the major networks - to inform the people in a timely manner. They failed to take advantage of the technology they obviously spend lots of money on, just to make look nice and generate ad revenue, apparently. They failed to use the Internet - the ultimate 24 hour, up-to-the-nanosecond communications tool - to inform people of updates. Instead, rumor and hearsay most likely dominated the conversations of people not looking to THIS FUCKING STUPID BLOG for their information.

How the hell did one kid, whom quite a number of people think of as innocuous and somewhat incapable of much, beat the absolute snot out of you when it came to coverage? That's a question I'd like answered, really. Why is it that you all have so much money and so many resources, yet one guy with a few friends and tools available cheaply to the common citizen beat you to the punch and DID YOUR JOB FOR YOU?!? Today, the local news media - if they can be called that, receives a big fat red F- for their absolute FAIL at keeping residents informed of what was obviously a very dangerous situation. You people should just resign and let a whole new team in now. Shame on you.

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OK, here we go, piecing together the whole story from start to finish. The source for this info is by way of both PSP and Lawrence Township police departments:

Around 2pm yesterday, Michael Rodriguez escaped Clearfield County Jail (CCJ) by crawling under the frist yard fence, then climbing over the second. After a brief run-around, he stole the truck you saw in the previous photos from Megan and Missy, from some New York area workers who were running into a Cogos for a second, leaving their keys in the truck and allowing Rodriguez to nab it.

At some point, Rodriguez contacted a girlfriend he had in the DuBois area and was trying to get to her place. Unbeknowest to him, she was on the horn with PSP, telling them where he was and what his intentions were.

PSP and LTPD set up a roadblack with spike strips along the Shawville-Croft Highway, or State Route 879, north of Clearfield in front of the home of Sean Owens. Owens stated that you could hear the truck coming up the highway, and he had to have been doing at least 120. He hit the spike strips, lost control, and crashed at the turn shown in the photos Missy sent.

Due to the crash, Rodriguez is reported to have broken both of his legs (reports have also stated ankles). Despite this, PSP and LTPD forcibly removed him from the vehicle, slammed his face onto the ground, and someone put a boot on his neck while he was down. After this, despite the broken legs, police forced him to walk up the hill, where he was later airlifted to an unknown hospital.

Police are still searching the area along the chase route for a reported firearm, as well as impounding and searching the truck that Rodriguez stole.

Crazy, eh? A wee bit of police brutality? I think so! Even though this guy was clearly a dangerous and incredibly stupid individual, having two broken legs after a roadblock crash will certainly diminish your ability to do any sort of fighting back, thus eliminating the need for excessive force.

If these reports are true, PSP and LTPD - as well as any other agencies involved - could be in some serious trouble. Stay tuned. As I learn more, I'll be sure to post it here for all of you.

CCJ Escapee Post 2: Electric Boogaloo

UPDATE 12:25 AM: As you'd expect, it's getting a bit late here, so reports are going to be slow coming in. There's word of PSP scaling back outdoor searching. Probably because of the new information from the woman and pigeon cellmate at CCJ. The possible sighting in Curwensville was around 9:30pm, and has been unconfirmed as of yet.

We're guessing that, if the CCJ celly is right and he's had help from the Clearfield area, then it's very possible that he could have in fact gone to the Uni-Mart and then got himself the hell out of Dodge.

Meantime, unless Jester falls asleep at the wheel (which he just might), he'll be texting me any available information as he gets it. Also, welcome to everyone coming in and reading. In case you're wondering how I have more information than, say, Gant Daily or WTAJ or whoever: Anybody with access to a scanner and the internet (and in our case, communication tools like Yahoo Messenger and Texting) can do this with a little conviction and effort.

And obviously, they can do it more detailed than any "major news" site, hands down. We may not have exclusive video or anything like that, but everybody has limits at times.

P.S. Hi, Meg, Missy and friends! Surprise: Eric has his uses after all...

~*~

UPDATE 11:50 PM: PSP has made contact with Rodriguez's cellmate at CCJ. As reported earlier, PSP recieved a tip from a woman who claimed to have contact with the cellmate, and information on possible help from sources in Clearfield. Developing, stick with this blog or follow my #PAfugitive trending topic on Twitter.

(Fun trivia: The update is orange because that's the color of CCJ jumpers. If they're not old and FUBAR)

~*~

Alright, updates as WTAJ in Altoona broadcasts this as its lead story. Meanwhile, Gant Daily finally has a story online. Meantime, to give you a more personal perspective on the story, here's the latest reported search area, via PSP on the scanner.

Rodriguez was thought to be sighted here, in Shawville, PA (clicky make biggie pop). However, it has also come to our attention that PSP has been in contact with a woman who claims she's had contact with Rodriguez's cellmate at CCJ: Apparently, there's information on possible assistance from some people in the Clearfield Area.

Right now, there are roadblocks set up all over the place, and PSP is also checking into local motels in the area (uh oh). And to correct my earlier post, Rodriguez is 32, not 26. Description is still the same, and thanks to Gant Daily, we now have his recent CCJ booking photo to replace that ugly one that was txt'd to me earlier by Missy: WTAJ initially ran that photo as well. PSP has stated that he is indeed believed to be from New York, although Buffalo (as we've heard) hasn't been specifically mentioned. Judging by the live update stats, though, I've had several hits from that specific area, so it's highly likely people there have heard of Rodriguez's exploits.

(Heh. Welcome, Buffalo folk.! My Uncle Roul used to live on Grand Island. Nice city you have!)

So far, he's broken into a shed, which is near where a gray sweatshirt was found, which means Rodriguez is probably armed with some sort of tools, none of them good since he's in a desperate situation.

Police are warning residents in the area to lock everything and leave lights on to deter Rodriguez from trying to make things worse by taking a person or family hostage. Good advice. Meantime, don't try to approach the subject - although personally, if you're highly trained and match or exceed his size, then by all means end this nightmare.

And speaking of nightmares, how well is Sam Lombardo sleeping tonight? This happened on his watch, probably while he was in the building (which he is from 8am to 5pm most days). Honestly, I hope this costs him quite a bit of standing. From personal experience...

FORGET THAT. THANKS TO JESTER, THIS JUST BREAKING:

There's just been a possible sighting at the UniMart in Curwensville, PA, the complete opposite direction from the above search area. More forthcoming. In the meantime, follow me on Twitter: @lostprophyt for up to the second knowledge...

UPDATE: Here's a map of the possible sighting in Curwensville, PA. The Uni-Mart at State St. and Filbert St. (basically C-Ville's main intersection) is equipped with security cameras, so we may have photos of the scene soon.

The general consensus amongst my little news enclave here in the area is that, if Rodriguez has help, his help may be calling in false tips. That's just speculation on our part, though, so don't take it as gospel. It would, however, explain the disparaging distance (almost 10 miles) between the above map and this one...