BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- The two men who escaped from Bon Air Correctional Facility in Chesterfield 12 days ago were "apprehended without incident" at a hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan, Saturday evening, U.S. Marshals Service officials said.
U.S. Marshals pursued numerous leads in several states in their search for 18-year-old Rashad Williams and 20-year-old Jabar Taylor, investigators said.
In fact, investigators said the pair first fled to Pennsylvania. But they were arrested by the Grand Rapids Fugitive Task Force around 5 p.m. at a hotel in the 5700 block of Beckley Road in Battle Creek.
Officials said Williams and Taylor allegedly choked a guard, snatched a set of keys, and made their way through a hole that had been cut in a fence at the Bon Air Correctional Facility on July 13. Officials said a getaway car was waiting outside of the detention center.
Taylor, who was serving a sentence for convictions of two counts of second-degree murder and aggravated malicious assault, and Williams, who was previously convicted of malicious wounding and robbery, are being held at the Calhoun County Jail in Battle Creek.
During the investigation, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force also charged 23-year-old Destiny Harris, a corrections officer, and 42-year-old Darren Briggs, also an employee. Harris is charged with aiding, Briggs with felony providing a cell phone to a prisoner.
Nick E. Proffitt, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia, called the arrests during the "complex investigation" an example of the "never give up" attitude of U.S. Marshals and state and local law enforcement.
Officials also credited the FBI with providing "significant assistance" during the investigation.
"This evening's apprehension of the escapees from the Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center is a result of the extensive investigative efforts and fortitude demonstrated by state and federal law enforcement," Capt. Richard Boyd, commander of the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Richmond Field Office, said. "The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force members, which include Virginia State Police personnel, are to be commended for their exceptional and exhaustive work on this case."
Marshals had offered $5,000 apiece for the capture of Williams and Taylor.
