Escaped Western Pa. inmate taken into custody in Philadelphia

A man who escaped a Western Pennsylvania prison last year was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Philadelphia on Friday.

Isaiah Tilghman, 33, escaped the Blair County Prison on Dec. 3 and was known to be in Philadelphia that month, according to a U.S. Marshals spokesperson.

Marshals took Tilghman into custody on the 3300 block of Aramingo Avenue around 11 a.m. Friday, the service’s Philadelphia unit said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Photos from the arrest show Tilghman against the exterior wall of a Planet Fitness gym. Mashals said they had been surveilling Tilghman this week, and they followed him as he drove a black BMW from a home in Kensington to the gym, where he was surrounded by 20 officers after exiting.

Before his December escape, Tilghman had been incarcerated at the prison since May on felony narcotics charges as well as parole violations, court records show. His address was listed as State College.

Marshals said they learned that Tilghman had fled to Philadelphia in the weeks following. On Dec. 15, Marshals recovered on the 2600 block of South Front Street a red Ford F-150 that they believe Tilghman had stolen. The vehicle’s license plate was stolen off another truck in Port Richmond, according to a post on X from the Marshals.

Tilghman was awaiting sentencing when he escaped. After his capture, he was additionally charged with escape, flight to avoid apprehension, and related charges. He will be transported back to Blair County for those proceedings, Marshals said.

The arrest was “a result of Fugitive Task Forces in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, diligently working together,” said Robert Clark, supervisory deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force.