Fugitive Stabs Guard in Neck, Flees In Uniform

A fugitive escapes out of a Michigan jail like it's a scene from a movie. Now he's back behind bars, CNN's John Berman reports.

It began shortly after 8 a.m. Monday as Abraham Pearson was in a holding cell inside a Detroit courthouse.

Pearson was awaiting his sentencing for up to 15 years for carjacking and armed robbery when an unarmed deputy who has been identified as 63-year-old Harrison Tolliver, removed his handcuffs.

At that time the 25-year-old inmate attacked the deputy with a comb he'd sharpened into a weapon, stabbing him in the neck, snatching the deputy's clothes, keys, cellphone and radio, disguising himself as the officer and escaping.

Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said, "This is a huge building, obviously we have a limited number of people with different responsibilities."

He bypassed building security by taking the prisoner elevator and walked right out the front the door. Then Pearson carjacked a minivan outside police headquarters.

Every level of law enforcement was dispatched as the hectic search continued until the fugitive was found around 10 p.m after the city was on lockdown for nearly 14 hours.

Some citizens eventually spotted him walking near interstate 94 and now the man is headed back to jail where he faces at least eleven additional charges.

Tolliver, a retired Detroit police officer, was taken to the Detroit Receiving Hospital and later released.