Escaped carjacking suspect at large fled in shackles, handcuffs

A manhunt is underway for a parole absconder from Detroit. Somehow, he managed to escape while in handcuffs and  shackles.

A police source told FOX 2 that corrections workers allowed the parolee, Rowvontae Walker  to use the bathroom - that's when he escaped out the back door.

"They didn't give me a description, they asked if I had seen someone with shackles and handcuffs," said Mohammed Avery.

He missed it, but Avery who works at the Carousel Laundromat on Grand River near I-94, says he saw a whole lot of police searching the area after Walker, 19, escaped Detroit's parole office on Lawton wearing handcuffs and shackles.

"It's safe to say when he reported, he didn't know what he was walking into," said Detroit Deputy Chief Renee Hall.

FOX 2 is told state officials had been waiting for Walker, who served time in 2013 for an unarmed robbery and was paroled last September.

Sources say Walker had recently been identified in an armed carjacking ring. Crimes he allegedly committed while he was on parole - wearing a tether.

When Walker went to report to his probation officer, authorities took him in custody, cuffing his wrists and shackling his legs.

They were preparing to transfer him, but state workers allowed walker to use the bathroom and before they knew it he escaped out the back door.

"This is not a Detroit (police) prisoner this is Michigan Department of Correction and we are all hands on deck assisting in this process," Hall said.

A surveillance camera caught Walker hopping the fence and shimmying down to I-94, but somehow when he reached the expressway, he got away.

His escape prompted a massive search, from the air to the ground. Multiple agencies assisting the DOC searching streets, abandoned houses and where Walker was living last.

Carolyn Johnson claims she had her Edison house searched twice in the same day - before Walker was caught and after he escaped. It is the last address Walker had registered with the state.

"They came here saying they got him, then they came back said they didn't get him," said Johnson. "I don't know what's going on.

"After that, he won't be coming my house not with all of this here."

Walker is 19 years old and has a mole on the right side of his face. He has tattoos on his right forearm, lower right arm, back and chest. He is 5’10’’ and approximately 160 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a black hoodie,  jeans and Timberland work boots.

If you spot him, don't approach him, call Detroit police at (313) 596-5200.