For those coming in looking for info on Michael Rodriguez, the Clearfield County Jail escapee, welcome! My name is Eric, and I'm just a guy with some friends who did some simple, legal snooping and came up with what you're here for, found below in These Two posts. The second of those links is the most up-to-date as far as info is concerned, as of the time of this post.
As for the current moment, there's nothing really new to report, other than I've had some real FAIL moments typing on Twitter as the night has worn on. Totally unrelated to this whole thing, I know, but oh well. Here's a recap of everything we know to this point:
Around 2pm on Tuesday, September 22nd 2009, 32 year old Clearfield County Jail inmate Michael Rodriguez - incarcerated for a burglary in the DuBois, PA area - escaped by working his way under CCJ's yard fences somehow.At any rate, if you live in the area, PSP is advising all residents to lock everything that can be locked and keep your house lights on to discourage Rodriguez should he decide to try and attack a home or vehicle.
Rodriguez, from New York (Buffalo, apparently), is described as 6'0" tall, brown hair and eyes, 180lbs, large build and a tattoo on his neck. He is said to have a history of violent crimes, and is considered a serious threat to the population. The search for him has extended into the area surrounding US Route 322 west of Clearfield, PA, towards the community of Woodland, PA.
Officially, Pennsylvania State Police are searching by ground with K9 units and other units from Centre County. They also have a chopper with night vision equipment in the air. According to major sources, PSP may be scaling back ground efforts for the night.
And now, what the "major" media hasn't told you:
The search began in the county's cornfield site near the jail itself, where we have heard reports that a pair of glasses were found.
Not long afterward, a gray sweatshirt - matching that which an inmate would be permitted to wear inside CCJ - was found near a shed, which Rodriguez apparently broke into. This is the probable source for any weapons he may have, and speculation has ranged from screwdrivers to hammers to bladed tools, anything light and effective.
Some time on, fresh footprints were twice found - first near the Susquehanna River, and then reportedly near a residence.
After a few hours, the reports came in that the search was expanding to the small community of Shawville, PA, in the neighborhood of Stiner Road. During this time, PSP units searching the area reported a possible sighting of a suspicious individual both near the bridge (from civilians) and on a hill near Stiner Road (by PSP themselves), but no contact or positive ID was made in either instance.
Also during that time, the first word of a woman by the last name of Mack [sic?] who claimed to have been in contact with Rodriguez's cellmate came over the scanner. The cellmate apparently had information on possible outside assistance given to the fugitive from people in the Clearfield Area.
In an odd twist (to us, at least), a report came over the air that there was a possible sighting of Rodriguez at the Uni-Mart in Curwensville, PA, ~10 miles from the previous possible sighting in the Shawville area. Although Uni-Mart has security cameras at that location, no further reports came in about the matter.
A brief report came from County Control who relayed information from a citizen about a possible hiding place at a train tunnel somewhere in the local area (which I'm not really familiar with, but possibly near Curwensville or Shawville). At this time, we figured that if the possibility of help were in fact true, then those helpers could be making false tips to throw the search effort off.
(Honestly, we believe that thinking on that level is beyond the average Clearfield County resident - especially those willing to help an escapee and risk state time themselves - but it wouldn't surprise me if it was indeed possible for his help to think outside the box like that.)
In the latest update we have, we learned that PSP had made contact with the cellmate/stool pigeon, and have probably spent the past few hours talking to him and gathering whatever information they can, none of which we've heard at this point.
At this point, this is all we know.
If you have any information, forget contacting me, first you should call PSP's Woodland Barracks at (814) 857-3800. THEN contact me. We want to see how this all plays out as much as you do, but you have to play within the bounds of both the law and ethical journalism.
In the meantime, I think it's time for me to retire for the night as well. Stay safe, Central PA. And thanks to everyone who's been reading throughout the day/night. Come in for the details the "majors" won't give you (yet), stay for the nostalgia and reaction-inducing socio-political commentary!
