Murder suspect arrested after escaping in Gary
Leon Taylor | Lake County sheriff's office
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. - A murder defendant was arrested Wednesday in East Chicago after he escaped from custody in northwest Indiana two weeks ago while being transported from Texas.
Leon Taylor was arrested after a brief foot chase about 8:40 a.m. in the 4900 block of Indianapolis Boulevard, Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said in a social media post.
"Our officers worked around the clock over the Christmas holiday and investigated every possible lead to bring this fugitive back into custody," Martinez said.
Taylor, 22, escaped from a private transport vehicle Dec. 14 in Gary while in the process of being extradited to Lake County from Texas, the sheriff’s office said. He is wanted on a murder charge for a homicide in East Chicago.
Authorities released a video of his escape while he was inside the SUV at a McDonald’s at 35th and Grant streets in Gary.
The video shows the SUV stopped at the restaurant’s drive-thru when Taylor, who appears to be handcuffed, opens the back seat and flees. Moments later, the driver gets out of the car and runs after him.
Taylor’s cousin was arrested last week on charges of assisting him and trying to collect money for Taylor, police said.
Taylor’s murder charge stems from a robbery that happened about 11:40 a.m. Nov. 19 in East Chicago.
Officers responded to the area of the 770 block of West 150th Street and found Daniel Nitzsche, 52, lying on a sidewalk with two gunshot wounds to his torso, according to a probable cause affidavit.
He was having trouble communicating because of his injuries but told officers two males wearing ski masks had robbed and shot him, the affidavit states. He died later at St. Catherine Hospital.
While reviewing surveillance video, detectives identified a silver-colored Dodge Charger that dropped off two males who walked through an alley to the scene of the shooting, the affidavit states. After two gunshots are heard, the males are seen getting back into the Charger and fleeing.
The car came back as being registered to a woman who lived in Gary, Indiana, the affidavit states. After securing a warrant, officers there conducted a traffic stop on the car on Nov. 24 at 5th Avenue and Buchanan Street. During the stop, a man jumped out of the car and ran.
The woman was taken to a police station for questioning, where she admitted to being the owner of the Charger and said her boyfriend of two months "Leon Brooks" had been the man who ran from the car when officers stopped her, the affidavit states.
Leon Taylor | Lake County sheriff's office
She wasn’t sure if "Brooks" went by a different name but identified pictures of Taylor as being that of her boyfriend, the affidavit states. The woman said she drove Taylor and his friend, a 14-year-old boy, to East Chicago the day of the murder.
Taylor told her they were going to visit friends and buy weed, the affidavit states, and he directed her to wait for them once she dropped them off. The woman said she didn’t hear any gunshots, but when the pair got back into her vehicle they told her to "go!"