It is a clichéd criminal mantra, popularized by almost every police-themed television show out there: Never use the phone. But it is one rule of thumb that Jose Rodriguez, who made a daring escape from NYPD custody Wednesday, did not heed.
Rodriguez gained momentary infamy when he succeeded in eluding law enforcement officers from three states and federal marshals after stealing an unmarked police car while his hands and feet were shackled, according to authorities. He used his knees to steer the vehicle before freeing himself of the constraints using a handcuff key on the key chain left in the running car, police said.
After making his unlikely getaway, police were able to track him down early Thursday at a motel in Connecticut by tracing text messages he sent from his cellphone. The account that follows comes from a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case.
Rodriguez, 27, was wanted by the NYPD for his alleged role in a non-fatal shooting on November 1 in the Bronx and on an arrest warrant for a 2008 DWI charge, in addition to absconding on his parole responsibilities. He was wanted for question in connection with an incident in which 26-year-old Carlos Cespedes was shot in the leg during a dispute over money.
At about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, NYPD detectives assigned to a regional fugitive task force stopped an SUV driven by Rodriguez in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Fort Lee, N.J. After a brief struggle, the detectives placed him under arrest.
While searching his SUV, where the detectives found a loaded 9mm Taurus handgun, Rodriguez wriggled his way into the driver’s seat of the unattended police car and drove away. Damage on the car — found about five miles away in Ridgefield, N.J., by an off-duty firefighter — revealed that Rodriguez crashed several times during his getaway.
The shackles and handcuffs were found inside the vehicle.
A witness came forward telling police a person fitting the suspect’s description had attempted to pay anyone willing to drive him to New York, the official said.
In the meantime, the search prompted officials in three New Jersey towns — Fort Lee, Ridgefield and Palisades Park — to impose precautionary lockdowns in some of their schools. Law enforcement agencies deployed helicopters and blood hounds in the manhunt, and dozens of officers did door-to-door searches in sleepy suburban neighborhoods not accustomed to so much police activity.
Just how Rodriguez ended up at a Microtel Hotel in Uncasville, Conn., remains unclear, but investigators believe he was driven there by a friend or relative, the official said. The way police tracked him to the motel, located near the Mohegan Sun Casino, was classic 21st century police work.
During his flight from the law, Rodriguez had been sending text messages to a friend in Oneonta, N.Y. At about 2:00 p.m. NYPD detectives requested that police in Oneonta pick up the friend, who was not identified, for questioning. The Oneonta officers arrested the friend for possession of a controlled substance about an hour later.
While in police custody, the friend received a text message from Rodriguez at about 5:00 p.m. About fifteen minutes later, Rodriguez called his friend’s mother from the same cellphone number. NYPD detectives used data from the texts and call to place Rodriguez’s cellphone in the New England area.
In coordination with the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the NYPD regional fugitive task force locked in on the motel off New London Turnpike, where a clerk told police Rodriguez allegedly paid in cash and registered under the name Antonio Davila.
The law enforcement agents were told he was staying in room 322. At about 3:20 a.m. Thursday, a small phalanx of officers knocked on the door and arrested Rodriguez peacefully.
Rodriguez appeared before a judge in Superior Court in Norwich, Conn., Thursday and agreed to be returned to New York to face charges there, authorities said.
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