Minneapolis cops capture man who fled courthouse after conviction
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Updated 11 a.m.
A man who escaped from the Hennepin County Government Center after being convicted for attempted murder on Thursday was recaptured this morning in south Minneapolis.
Michael David Henderson, 25, fled the court complex in downtown Minneapolis while the verdict was being read.
Hennepin County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Jennifer Johnson said Henderson scuffled with deputies during the escape.
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Johnson said officers from the Minneapolis Police Department captured Henderson without incident in south Minneapolis at about 7 a.m. on Friday. He was arrested on the 2400 block of Garfield Avenue after a tip from the public. Authorities had offered a reward of $5,000 for information leading to his capture.
Henderson was convicted of attempted murder during a robbery of a Bloomington Sam's Club in March. Police said that Henderson, a former employee of the store, robbed the store of about $10,000 while wearing a Sam's Club apron and ski mask.
Two store employees said Henderson pointed the gun at them and pulled the trigger but that it didn't fire. Following the robbery, Henderson unsuccessfully tried to carjack vehicles outside the store, but was captured by police.
No one has escaped from any of the state's secure adult facilities in the last decade, according to a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
No one at the state level explicitly tracks escapes from courthouses. No inmates have escaped from any of the state's secure adult facilities in the last decade, according to a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
An inmate named Angel Benjamin escaped from the women's prison in Shakopee last December, which did not have a fence at the time.
The last escape from a secure facility occurred in 1988 at Stillwater prison when an inmate named Miguel Balmaseda scaled the wall. He was recaptured soon after.
Minneapolis Deputy Chief Eddie Frizell, who's challenging Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek in the November election, released a statement on Friday arguing that Henderson's escape demonstrates the need for a leadership change in the sheriff's department.
Frizell plans to meet with media Friday afternoon. Stanek didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.