Suspect who escaped custody still in cuffs when captured a day later, deputies say

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    Greenville, South Carolina (WHNS) — Deputies say an escaped suspect is back in custody in Greenville County, and the sheriff’s office says he was still in handcuffs when found.

According to dispatch, deputies responded to a call for a suspicious person just before 10 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16. The suspect had been detained but escaped and took off on foot along Anderson Road and East Wilburn Avenue.

Deputies tell us the suspect is 51-year-old Willie Rodgers. After learning Mr. Rodgers had an active warrant for his arrest, a deputy reportedly placed Rodgers in cuffs and put him into the back of the patrol car.

GCSO says when the deputy was preparing to leave, they discovered that Rodgers had escaped the patrol car and the backseat door was open. Rodgers was last seen wearing a blue plaid hoodie with a black hood.

Dispatch says multiple deputies and K9’s were stationed at all nearby intersections searching the area for Rodgers.

Deputies say Rodgers was captured around 4 p.m. Wednesday on South Textile Avenue after deputies saw him leaving a relative’s residence. We’re told although the mid-chain on the handcuffs had been severed, his handcuffs were still on him at the time of his arrest.

Rodgers is being held at the Greenville County Detention Center.

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