A fourth person has been arrested in connection to the escape of two prisoners from a Philadelphia correctional center, according to police.
An arrest warrant was issued for Michael Abrams, 21, of Philadelphia. Abrams was arrested by the U.S. Marshals at the Fairfield Inn in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, Monday afternoon. He is charged with criminal conspiracy, hindering apprehension, escape and use of a communication facility.
Abrams is an associate of 18-year-old Ameen Hurst, a source told NBC10.
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Hurst and Nasir Grant, 24, both escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on May 7, police said. Both men cut a hole in a fence surrounding a recreation yard, according to investigators. Hurst and Grant, who were in the same unit but in different cells, were gone for nearly 19 hours before officials knew they were missing.
Grant, incarcerated on drug and weapons counts, was captured Thursday night after a task force staked out a north Philadelphia address where they believed he was staying. Authorities said he was wearing women’s Muslim clothing including a head covering that obscured his face. He's now facing escape and conspiracy charges and is being held on $10 million bail.
The U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force is now focused on tracking down Hurst, who is charged in four homicides, including the deadly shooting of Rodney Hargrove outside the same facility he escaped from back in March of 2021.
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Hurst is described as a Black male standing 6-feet and weighing around 140 pounds.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Marshals Service offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to each person’s arrest. Philadelphia Police also set up a reward for $20,000 for information leading to an arrest.
If you have any information on Hurst's whereabouts, please call Philadelphia Police at 215-686-TIPS or 911. You can also contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-800-336-0102.
On Friday police announced the arrest of 35-year-old Jose Flores-Huerta after he allegedly helped Hurst and Grant escape.
Flores-Huerta is one of several people charged in the September 2021 death of a New York City man outside Pat's King of Steaks. Authorities said 28-year-old Isidro Cortez of Queens was beaten with a trash can lid and pummeled, and that two other people, including his father, were injured before the suspects fled in a SUV. At a preliminary hearing last year, his lawyer contended that two other suspects who haven't been caught were primarily responsible.
Court documents indicate that Flores-Huerta is being represented by the Defender Association of Philadelphia in the escape case; messages seeking comment were sent Saturday to the association and to his attorney in the earlier case.
A woman accused of helping the escapees is also facing escape and conspiracy charges as well as hindering apprehension and criminal use of a communications facility. Xianni Stalling, 21, is accused of putting Hurst in touch with a potential getaway driver during recorded phone calls he made from jail hours before the escape. She's being held on $500,000 bail; the public defender’s office has declined comment.
