Watch CBS News

Escaped Inmate Caught Hiding In Portable Toilet

ROCKDALE, Ill. (CBS) – A state prison inmate was captured Friday evening, hiding deep within a portable toilet, several hours after he escaped from a van while being transported to Stateville Correctional Center.

Cesar Sanchez, 37, was taken into custody about 8:15 p.m., Illinois State Police confirmed.

Sanchez had escaped from an Illinois Department of Corrections transport vehicle in the area of 159th and Farrell Road in Lockport Township, the state prison agency said in a news release. The handcuffed escapee may have sustained an injury to one of his legs as he jumped from the moving vehicle at about 2:15 p.m.

Escaped Inmate Cesar Sanchez
Cesar Sanchez (IDOC/Will County Sheriff's Dept.)

A source tells WBBM Newsradio that Sanchez climbed onto the roof of a delivery truck and rode from Lockport to Rockdale, where Will County Sheriff's police say he may have hopped a fence to a Waste Management facility.

Authorities eventually found Sanchez hiding in a portable toilet, on a property filled with 300 of them, by using a combination of police dogs on the ground and infrared technology on a helicopter flying overhead. Sanchez had been hiding under the portable toilet's lid, Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas told reporters.

"He was in the doo-doo," Kaupas said.

Sanchez is from Chicago and has a long rap sheet, including convictions for possession of a stolen vehicle, burglary, theft and aggravated battery.

A Corrections Department spokeswoman says he violated his parole in December of 2010 and was in court Friday morning in Bridgeview to face new charges.

The 100-member task force looking for Sanchez included local and federal authorities, Kaupas said.

Inmate Surveillance Image
This image provided by a WBBM Newsradio listener purportedly shows inmate Cesar Sanchez on the run at around 3:15 p.m. Friday in Rockdale. (CBS)
View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.