DETROIT – A Detroit man who has been a fugitive since 2018 was captured by authorities Wednesday, hiding inside the wall of a residence.
Willie Wright, 36, was arrested after marshals found him hiding inside the bathroom wall of an east Detroit home, WXYZ reported.
Wright had eluded authorities for nearly three years. He was charged in 2017 with stealing from downtown Detroit businesses and was sentenced to a seven- to 20-year prison term, MLive reported. However, Wright disappeared before beginning his sentence.
Wright was arrested in 2018 in Indiana, but a clerical error during his extradition to Michigan led to an accidental release, WXYZ reported.
“The county jail in Indiana and the county jail in Michigan, I’m not sure exactly the details,” U.S. marshal deputy Aaron Garcia told the television station. “There was an administration error and he was eventually released.”
Federal marshals this week received a tip that Wright had returned to his family’s home in Detroit, MLive reported.
Deputies searched the home twice but were unable to locate Wright, WXYZ reported. During a third search, deputies noticed something unusual in the bathroom.
“There was one spot in the bathroom,” Garcia told the television station. “It looks like a wall where the plumbing would be, but we couldn’t get in it. You couldn’t open it up so, we were going to breach it with the halligan tool. At that time we started to breach it, he surrenders and comes out and says, ‘You guys got me.’”
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office may add additional charges against Wright, WXYZ reported. His family could also be charged with harboring a fugitive.
