Sly robbery suspect, 20, escapes police custody while being marched through Seattle airport
John Nino, 20, was being returned to Washington after getting arrested several days ago in New Mexico on a second-degree robbery charge.
However, while Nino was being transported through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at around 8pm on Tuesday, the fugitive managed to escape his captors and flee the scene.
Two Department of Corrections officers were leading Nino over the skybridge to the airport's parking garage when he escaped.
Nino was cuffed at the wrists and not at the ankles, according to DOC spokesperson Chris Wright.
He was last seen by officers crossing railway tracks and heading towards Washington's Highway 99.
The 20-year-old, who is 6'2 and weighs 154lbs, is still on the run, according to the Daily Beast.
Authorities urged people to not approach Nino if they spot him in public, and to instead report any sightings to law enforcement.
Nino has a lengthy criminal history in Washington's King County that includes two convictions for firearm possession in 2024 and a second-degree robbery in 2018, when he was 13.
In June, a warrant was issued for his arrest after he violated community supervision terms.
This is the third time a fugitive has escaped custody while at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport over the last few months.
Three months ago, Sedrick Stevenson - who was facing an arrest warrant - managed to flee during the check-in process at the ticket counter.
He ran away from two employees of Prisoner Transportation Services, a private company the Warren County sheriff's office in Kentucky contracts to transport people facing warrants.
Stevenson, 29, fled to the light rail station and boarded a northbound train before exiting at the Capitol Hill station.
He was at large for over six weeks before being apprehended by authorities 45 days later.
Stevenson was also cuffed at the wrists but not at the ankles.
In July, a man from El Salvador escaped immigration agents while being transported through the same airport.
He had opened a car door and ran off near the airport's car rental facility before he was caught few hours later near the rideshare pickup area.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
8 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump's nominee for Bureau of Labor Statistics was Jan 6 ‘bystander' outside Capitol, says White House
Donald Trump 's pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics was a 'bystander' outside the Capitol as the Jan. 6 insurrection unfolded, according to the White House. The president on Monday nominated Dr. E.J. Antoni to lead the BLS after firing the agency's commissioner earlier this month, accusing her of manipulating jobs data. In recent days, videos have emerged of the 37-year-old economist from the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank among a mob of Trump supporters who swarmed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Antoni is not believed to be among those who entered the building, and the video does not show him crossing barricades or demonstrating. The footage places Antoni at the Capitol about an hour after rioters tore down police barricades, as other insurrectionists poured onto its grounds. In U.S. Capitol Police surveillance video unearthed by NBC News, Antoni was spotted outside the Capitol building among a sea of supporters waving 'Stop the Steal' and 'Trump 2020' flags. In the clip, Antoni is seen walking away from the crowd on the building's west side as chants of 'USA' ring out and tear gas plumes in the background. Far-right radio host Alex Jones can be heard speaking over a megaphone. Other footage shows Antoni at the Capitol's east side, walking away from the building, according to NBC News. The video was initially released by the GOP-led House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight and archived from the social media website Parler. A White House official told NBC News Wednesday that Antoni was in Washington, D.C. for in-person meetings with his then employer, which, according to his LinkedIn profile, was the conservative think tank, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. 'These pictures show EJ Antoni, a bystander to the events of January 6th, observing and then leaving the Capitol area,' White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told the broadcaster in an email statement. He added it was 'wrong and defamatory to suggest EJ engaged in anything inappropriate or illegal.' While Antoni has not been accused of any wrongdoing, more than 1,500 rioters were charged with crimes connected to the attack on the Capitol building. On his first day back in office on January 20, Trump granted clemency to almost all of the defendants. Trump announced his intentions to install Antoni as BLS commissioner after removing Erika McEntarfer, whom he accused of using 'phony' numbers in the July jobs report that showed private companies adding just 73,000 positions, below projections. Under Antoni's stewardship, Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday that the numbers released would be 'HONEST and ACCURATE.' Antoni, who will face Senate confirmation, wrote on X last week that the bureau, part of the Labor Department, needed to revise its methods to 'rebuild the trust that has been lost over the last several years.' However, his nomination has intensified fears among critics that Trump wants a partisan supporter at the helm of a bureau to manipulate data to support his policies. Antoni was a contributor to the group's Project 2025, a controversial blueprint document outlining many of the moves the Trump administration has taken in office.
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
State of emergency declared in New Mexico following rise in crime and drug use
New Mexico 's Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared a state of emergency across a significant portion of the state's northern region, citing a surge in violent crime and drug trafficking. The declaration, issued on Wednesday, makes $750,000 available to local governments and tribal communities grappling with the crisis. The emergency measures target Rio Arriba County, an expansive area stretching from Española to the Colorado state line, which includes two Native American pueblo communities. Local authorities and tribal officials in the county had called for state reinforcements to combat the escalating crime and hardships linked to illicit drug use. This region has long been plagued by opioid addiction and high rates of drug-overdose deaths, with homeless encampments becoming increasingly visible in populated areas in recent years. Governor Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, underscored the severity of the situation in a statement: "The surge in criminal activity has contributed to increased homelessness, family instability and fatal drug overdoses, placing extraordinary strain on local governments and police departments that have requested immediate state assistance". This latest declaration follows similar actions taken by Governor Lujan Grisham in New Mexico 's largest city, Albuquerque. In April, she declared a state of emergency there due to a significant rise in crime, prompting the deployment of the New Mexico National Guard. Earlier in 2023, she suspended the right to carry guns in public parks and playgrounds in Albuquerque, a move made in response to a series of shootings across the state that resulted in child fatalities. Earlier, in 2023, she suspended the right to carry guns at public parks and playgrounds in Albuquerque in response to a series of shootings around the state that left children dead. There were no immediate calls for troop deployments in Rio Arriba County, though the new emergency declaration allows for authorities to call up the National Guard. Emergency funds will help local law enforcement agencies spend on overtime, equipment and coordinated police responses, said Lujan Grisham spokesperson Jodi McGinnis Porter. The tribal governor of Santa Clara Pueblo on the edge of Española urged the state to address a growing public safety crisis stemming from the use and abuse of fentanyl and alcohol in the community at large. 'The pueblo has expended thousands of dollars trying to address this crisis (...) and to protect pueblo children who are directly and negatively affected by a parent's or guardian's addiction,' said Santa Clara Governor James Naranjo in a July letter to Lujan Grisham. 'But we are not an isolated community and the causes and effects of fentanyl/alcohol abuse, increased crime, and increased homelessness extend to the wider community.' Recent deaths in the region linked by medical investigators to fentanyl and alcohol use include Rio Arriba County Sheriff Billy Merrifield. In 2020, President Donald Trump sent federal agents, including Homeland Security officers, to Albuquerque as part of an effort to contain violent crime. Separately on Wednesday, the Albuquerque Police Department announced murder charges against three teenagers — including two juveniles — in the July 2 shooting death of a homeless man in Albuquerque who was chased from a bus stop in the predawn hours. A 15-year-old boy is accused of being the shooter in the killing of 45-year-old Frank Howard, police department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said.
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
Melania Trump threatens Hunter Biden with $1bn lawsuit over Epstein claim
Melania Trump has demanded Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, threatening legal action for 'over $1bn' if he does not. he first lady objects to two statements Mr Biden, son of President Joe Biden, made in a recent interview with British journalist Andrew Callaghan. He alleged that Epstein introduced the first lady to now-President Donald Trump. The statements are false, defamatory and "extremely salacious," Melania Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, wrote in a letter to Biden. Biden's remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady "to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm," he wrote. A letter from the first lady's lawyers demanded he retract the claim and apologise, or face legal action for "over $1bn in damages". It also accuses Biden of having a "vast history of trading on the names of others", and repeating the claim "to draw attention to yourself". Biden made the Epstein comments during a sprawling interview in which he lashed out at "elites" and others in the Democratic Party he says undermined his father before he dropped out of last year's presidential campaign. "Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep," Biden said in one of the comments Trump disputes. Biden attributed the claim to author Michael Wolff, whom Trump disparaged in June as a "Third Rate Reporter." He has accused Wolff of making up stories to sell books. The first lady's threats echo a favored strategy of her husband, who has aggressively used litigation to go after critics. Public figures like the Trumps face a high bar to succeed in a defamation lawsuit. The president and first lady have long said they were introduced by Paolo Zampolli, a modeling agent, at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998. The letter is dated Aug. 6 and was first reported Wednesday by Fox News Digital. Abbe Lowell, a lawyer who has represented Biden in his criminal cases and to whom Brito's letter is addressed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
