A man wanted for murder and armed robbery was arrested Wednesday after a 15-hour standoff with police at a Chicago restaurant just blocks from the Democratic National Convention, authorities said.
Joshua Zimmerman had been wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service since escaping from a Mississippi courthouse in June. He was tracked down at the restaurant on Tuesday, according to Justin Smith, chief deputy of the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi.
After the marshals learned that Zimmerman was in Chicago, a department task force concluded that he was at a seafood restaurant where investigators believed he worked.
“During the arrest attempt, Zimmerman retreated into the ceiling and barricaded himself,” the agency said in a statement. A Chicago Police SWAT team was then called to the scene.
The restaurant is about half a mile from the United Center, where the convention is being held. The Marshals Service said there was “no connection or threat to the event or attendees.”
Without naming Zimmerman, Chicago police said one person was arrested around 7:20 a.m. and that the SWAT operation, which began around 4 p.m. Tuesday, had ended.
The Marshals Service said Zimmerman fled the district court in Hernando, Mississippi, where he was being held on attempted murder and armed robbery charges. He is also awaiting extradition to Houston, Texas, where he faces murder charges, the Marshals Service said.
Zimmerman was not wearing a prison uniform but plain clothes when he escaped. A screenshot from a courthouse surveillance video showed him wearing khaki pants and a white shirt and not handcuffed.
Smith told reporters that the sheriff’s department and other agencies were investigating why Zimmerman was not handcuffed and how he escaped. He said authorities wanted to return him to Mississippi.
“That’s why we’re excited to finally have the chance to sit down with Zimmerman and find out more facts,” Smith said.
According to court records in Harris County, Texas, Zimmerman is accused of shooting a woman, Keyanna Mercer, at a Houston motel on September 2, 2023.
The two were asked to leave the motel after several altercations broke out. When staff checked the room to see if the two had left, they found Mercer’s body with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
Court records also show that Zimmerman was arrested in Connecticut in 2022 on sexual assault charges. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $200,000 bail, but a warrant was later issued for his arrest. Connecticut State Police did not immediately release details of the case.
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Callahan reported from Indianapolis. Associated Press writers Juan Lozano in Houston and Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to his report.
Rick Callahan, Associated Press
