Police in Oregon was left chasing after a man accused of murder after he escaped a courtroom last month during jury selection for his trial. According to reports,
Edi Villalobos, who had his handcuffs and leg shackles removed as part of Oregon law, ran out of the Washington County Courthouse as two officers chased after him, but judging by the surveillance footage that’s been posted online, they clearly didn’t stand a chance in capturing him. “Those were removed because of Oregon law,” Sergeant Danny DiPietro said, explaining why his restraints had been taken off during the process of jury selection.
“When someone’s in a trial, and any of the proceedings that goes along with it, including jury selection, Oregon law requires us to remove those restraints, and we did that, obviously.”
Villalobos was able to get away in a matter of seconds, leading law enforcement officials to seek assistance from K-9 units, drones and two other local police departments in the hopes of locating his whereabouts, which they tracked down after being tipped off by a concerned neighbor of an apartment complex.
The resident contacted cops after claiming that a man had attempted to break into a door of an empty home unit and when officers arrived at the scene, they found Villalobos hiding in the closet with a blanket over his head.
The 28-year-old is accused of stabbing and killing Guzman-Olvera in April 2021 followed by another knifing incident that left a man in critical condition. On top of the second-degree murder charge he’s already facing, the suspect has now received an additional two counts of burglary in the first degree and one count of escape. A new court date has yet to be scheduled.
The man Villalobos is accused of stabbing, Olvera, was his mother’s partner before fleeing in a car before finding another victim, Saul Antonio Ramirez Aguirre, whom he’s also alleged of stabbing a couple of hours later. Aguirre was in critical condition when paramedics arrived at the apartment complex at 10305 S.W. Wilsonville Road where the incident occurred.
#BREAKING: The @WCSOOregon have arrested Edi Villalobos. He is now in custody. @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/7QSoZIRMlZ
— Connor McCarthy (@conr_mccarthy) February 27, 2023
He was listed in stable condition at. Nearby hospital by the time Clackamas County deputies issued a follow-up statement on the victim’s state.