Updated: 3:30 p.m.
UNIONVILLE, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Two weeks after convicted murderer Danilo Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison, he is back in police custody.
Cavalcante was caught around 8 a.m. Wednesday in a heavily wooded area of Pottstown, near the perimeter of the search area. He was located in the brush behind the Little's John Deere dealer on Route 100, just south of Route 23.
The capture began to unfold shortly after midnight Wednesday when a burglar alarm went off at a home near Prizer Road in South Coventry Township within the perimeter. Police used thermal imaging from a plane overhead to pinpoint a possible location for him, about a quarter-mile away, but overnight storms interrupted the heat signal.
“Unfortunately, we had a weather system that also came in and we had lightning that was flashing all around, and it caused the aircraft to have to depart the area,” said Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens at a press conference Wednesday.
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Tactical teams secured the area until the aircraft could fly again. They pinpointed Cavalcante again around 8 a.m. Tactical teams moved in quietly and surrounded him in the brush behind Little's.
“They were able to move in very quietly,” Bivens said. “They had the element of surprise.”
Bivens said he tried to crawl away with a .22-caliber rifle he had stolen, but a tactical unit of the U.S. Border Patrol released a canine to subdue Cavalcante. Then the teams moved in to forcibly take him into custody.
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“Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded until that had occurred,” said Bivens. “That did not stop him from trying to escape. He began to crawl through thick underbrush, taking his rifle with him as he went.”
The disheveled fugitive was wearing a muddy Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt. He was treated for a scalp wound and a minor bite from the dog and taken to the Pennsylvania State Police Avondale barracks for processing.
Bivens said he will eventually be transferred to a state correctional facility.
'Everybody around here is relieved'
Little's manager Jim Martin witnessed the capture. He said a helicopter was right above the area for at least a half-hour before the arrest.
“I just watched it finally come to an end. Didn't expect it to be right behind our business — but had to happen.”
He estimated more than 100 officers swarmed to the area, and many more flocked to the site after he was captured.
“We were watching from the loading dock below. As the police and troopers went into the brush, all of a sudden they all started congregating right behind that shed. And from there they brought the fugitive out,” he said.
“After that, then more even came out from down below. They all came up to this parking lot.”
The full-scale manhunt — including hundreds of personnel, thermal imaging technology, drones, helicopters, dogs, and even the recorded voice of Cavalcante’s mother — had Chester County residents on high alert since his escape on Aug. 31.
Learning of the capture, neighbors said they can finally breathe. Mary Galpin, who lives just a few miles from Little's, was almost in tears.
“I was scared. I was really frightened, especially when he got the gun,” Galpin said. “I'm very relieved. Everybody around here is relieved.”
Phyllis Flowers, who lives just two miles from the capture site, said she had been on edge knowing the escaped fugitive was so near.
“I'm so relieved because, to be honest, we were on pins and needles in the area. I have two grandchildren that live only like three miles away, and I wasn't even able to let them go outside.”
Craig Springer of West Vincent Township said police deserve a big thank-you — including the dog.
“I'm grateful, very grateful nobody was hurt. I think the puppy dog deserves a prize,” Springer said.
Apprehended 'with no shots fired'
In a statement released Wednesday morning, Chester County Commissioners thanked law enforcement for bringing this "nightmare" to an end. They say the prison has “made some immediate changes to bolster security” and “brought in security contractors to make permanent changes to the exercise yards, and are reviewing and — where needed — changing procedures for both security measures and communication to residents who live close to the prison.”
The 34-year-old broke out of the Chester County jail while awaiting transfer to a state prison to serve a life sentence for fatally stabbing an ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in 2021. Prosecutors say he killed her to stop her from telling police that he was wanted in Brazil, his home country, in connection with another homicide.
Prosecutors there, in Tocantins state, said Cavalcante is accused of “double qualified homicide” in the 2017 killing of Válter Júnior Moreira dos Reis in the municipality of Figueiropolis, over a debt the victim owed him for repairing a vehicle.
Video released on Sept. 6 shows how Cavalcante escaped. He walked to the entrance of the prison's exercise yard and crab-walked up the wall and onto the roof. Officials said he then jumped down and made his way over the fence through a couple layers of razor wire.
Last week, the prison guard who was on duty in the watchtower while Cavalcante escaped was fired.
Manhunt timeline
The search for Cavalcante first started in lower Chester County, near Longwood Gardens and not far from the prison in West Chester. However, he broke containment from that heavily manned search perimeter and stole a van from Baily's Dairy farm in West Chester over the weekend. The keys were left in the car.
He drove about 30 miles north to a former coworker's home in East Pikeland Township, but that person wasn't home at the time. Images from that resident's doorbell camera showed Cavalcante with his beard shaved off and in different clothing.
Police said he was familiar with the area because he used to live there.
The most recent sightings were more alarming after Cavalcante stole an unsecured gun from a residence. Around 10 p.m. Monday, a resident on Coventryville Road alerted police that a man had entered his garage while he was home and grabbed a .22-caliber rifle with scope and flashlight.
The homeowner drew his own pistol and fired at Cavalcante, but he got away with the weapon and ammunition. Cavalcante was not wounded in the incident.
At Wednesday's press conference, Bivens and other state and local officials, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, praised the teams and commended them for their hard and dangerous work.
"Thank God there were no injuries to law enforcement or to the public," Shapiro said. "We obviously became deeply concerned after the suspect was able to steal a weapon, [but Cavalcante] was apprehended this morning with no shots fired."
Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said her first call was to Brandao’s family.
“They are so grateful to the men and women who helped with this capture,” she said. “They can now finally sleep again.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misspelled Cavalcante's first name based on errors in official law enforcement and court documents.