U.S. Marshals capture suspect who escaped police custody following traffic stop
U.S. Marshals apprehended Nafiysh Knox-Schenck, 32, after he escaped police custody Monday in the East Germantown section of the city.
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Federal authorities have captured a suspect who escaped police custody Monday after he was let out of the back of a police cruiser following his arrest.
U.S. Marshals apprehended Nafiysh Knox-Schenck, 32, at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday on the 600 block of West Girard Avenue, the service said. Knox-Schenck escaped the custody of Philadelphia police about 10 a.m. Monday in the city’s East Germantown section, several miles from where he was captured.
Police arrested Knox-Schenck earlier this week on an open warrant for firearms violations, authorities said. Following his arrest, he was placed in the back of a police cruiser, and he was able to escape after an unknown person opened the vehicle’s door.
He fled the scene eastbound on foot. Responding officers were not able to catch up with him.
About 7 a.m. Wednesday, officials with the Marshals Fugitive Task Force began conducting surveillance on a building in Northern Liberties where Knox-Schenck was believed to be hiding. Investigators knocked on the door of a sixth-floor unit in the building at about 12:30 p.m., and Knox-Schenck immediately surrendered, the Marshals Service said.
Knox-Schenck’s escape from police custody Monday was the latest of several in recent months.
In February, Alleem Borden, 29, escaped from Episcopal Hospital on East Lehigh Avenue following an arrest for vehicle theft. Borden had complained of pain and was taken to the hospital, where he later escaped after receiving treatment. Marshals took Borden back into custody days later in Cambria County, roughly 200 miles from Philadelphia.
A month earlier, in January, Shane Pryor, 17, escaped police custody during a visit to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Pryor had been charged with killing a woman in 2020, and was taken to the hospital by juvenile detention center staff for a hand injury. Marshals captured Pryor days after his escape near Third Street and Roosevelt Boulevard after spotting him on a SEPTA bus.
“Our fugitive task force has the most experience in the country apprehending escapees, and the Marshals Service will always support law enforcement agencies who need violent criminals brought back into custody,” said Robert Clark, supervisory deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force.