Escaped Inmate Arrested in Tennessee

PARIS, TENNESSEE — Escaped convict Michael Rotunno has been captured in Paris, Tennessee Thursday night after he was spotted at a motel in a stolen vehicle from Hallsville. According to KETK, the series of events brings an end to a days long manhunt after the 30-year-old escaped from Florida law enforcement officers Monday while being transferred to a penitentiary. Rotunno used a stolen vehicle from Mississippi to make his way to Longview, where he allegedly abandoned that vehicle, and submerged it in a small lake. Another vehicle was reported stolen from Rader Funeral Home, near the lake, and it was discovered in an area north of Hallsville on Thursday.

Officials said another vehicle was discovered missing near the location of the abandoned stolen funeral home vehicle Thursday. The owner of that truck told Harrison County deputies he had left the keys and credit cards in the work truck. A credit card belonging to the company had been used in West Monroe, Louisiana, to purchase fuel Thursday morning.

Tennessee law enforcement was given information by an informant that Rotunno may be in the Paris, Tennessee, area and was then spotted at a motel in the vehicle that had been stolen in Harrison County.

Law enforcement officers chased him after he attempted to escape and he was caught a short time later by a K-9 and other officers. Rotunno was taken to a local hospital for treatment of the dog bite and is now in custody in Tennessee on multiple charges.

The other escapee, James Banks, was found Wednesday in Mississippi and taken into custody.