A manhunt is underway in Tennessee after a man charged with multiple drug and child pornography offenses forced his way out of a police transport vehicle and disappeared, according to officials.
Sean Williams, 51, disappeared from the back of a police van in Greeneville as he was taken to court on Wednesday morning.
When officers arrived at the courthouse, they found one of the van’s windows broken and the back empty.
“During the trip, it appears the inmate was able to use the headrest component of the van to free himself from his hand restraints,” Laurel County Jailer Jamie Mosley said, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Williams was then able to “dislodge the protective screen and force the side window out of the rear of the transport vehicle,” Mosley said.
It remains unknown exactly how Williams was able to remove his handcuffs while restrained in the van.
“It’s a very rare situation to escape from one of those [vehicles],” US Marshal David Jolley said Wednesday during a press conference. “I have a lot of questions about how this happened.”
Authorities are scrambling to find the fugitive and warn he is desperate and dangerous.
Sean Williams, 51, faces charges for the production of child pornography, along with drug offences.
“We think of him as the type of individual who would do anything in his power not to get caught,” Jolley said. “Which could mean breaking into homes, getting guns, stealing vehicles — anything of that nature.”
Shortly after escaping, Williams was spotted in Greeneville with blood on his clothes – suggesting he had cut himself during his daring escape – knocking on the door of a house and asking to use the phone, to which he was refused.
“His leg was tied and he was bleeding,” Nashala Livingston, the homeowner’s cousin, told WCYB. “He was wearing khaki pants, and no shoes, and he was trying to cover his feet and ankles, too.”
There have been no sightings of Williams since then, a US Marshall told NBC News.
Williams is already considered a flight risk after he allegedly made two escape attempts from the prison where he was held over the summer.
He was charged with producing child pornography in September, after being arrested in April when police found cocaine and methamphetamine in his car during a search.
Williams was last seen covered in blood knocking on the door of a home in Greeneville and asking to use WJHL’s phone
Williams is also at the center of a lawsuit brought by former US Attorney Kateri Dahl, alleging that the Johnson City Police Department mishandled the investigation into multiple allegations of sexual assault against him.
In his lawsuit, Dahl claims his efforts to investigate Williams were blocked by the police department.
One of the charges included an incident in which a woman fell from her fifth-floor apartment window to the sidewalk below, but miraculously survived.
The woman, Mikayla Evans, fears Williams will hunt her and the other women named in the lawsuit now that he’s on the run, according to NBC News.
“He knew who the woman was because they gave him a copy of the lawsuit,” he said. “I’m numb – It took us two years to catch this monster and he magically pulled a Houdini stunt and disappeared.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
