BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio — A man wanted for allegedly shooting his boss last week the day after he was fired was arrested Tuesday in Bedford Heights. However, US Marshals said the arrest of Andre Stanton did not come easily as the 28-year-old leaped from a fifth floor balcony onto the balcony below before squeezing himself into a small utility closet.
Federal and local law enforcement eventually captured Stanton at an apartment building at Trinity Towers, which is located in the 24000 block of Rockside Road in Bedford Heights. Stanton had been on the run from police since allegedly shooting his boss on June 28. The shooting happened at a plating factory in Cleveland. A Cleveland police report states that Stanton had been fired the day prior.
“We were able to track him here and make the arrest on him. We saw him first on the fifth floor up there. He literally did a somersault off the balcony and broke into a residence on the fourth floor. From there, he was able to get into the rest of the building. We got the whole place surrounded,” said Pete Elliott, the US Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio. “From my understanding he was pretty much like Spiderman. He did a whole somersault and ended up on the other floor. We’ve seen people that are desperate take very many measures in their lifetimes to escape us but at the end of the day it ends the same.”
Stanton, who has a warrant for attempted murder, had minor scrapes and bruises from his death-defying attempted escape. Stanton also has pending charges for allegedly being in possession of a stolen gun back in March.
After News 5 reported that police had connected him to the shooting at MPC Plating last week, Stanton called into the newsroom. He told a News 5 staff member that he was not responsible for the shooting and that he had not been fired. He also boasted about having two other jobs in addition to his former position at MPC.
Marshals say Stanton somersaulted off a fifth floor balcony onto a fourth floor balcony. He was later found in a first floor cubby hole. He has minor injuries. pic.twitter.com/7H9xhNxemE
— Jordan Vandenberge (@NEWSjordanv) July 2, 2019
News 5 then contacted law enforcement who has been tracking Stanton ever since. Elliott said Stanton’s capture is the product of cooperation and collaboration between the Marshals Service, the FBI, and police departments from Bedford Heights, Aurora, Bainbridge and the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office.
“This is a very dangerous job that our men and women are on every single day. It was great partnerships today,” Elliott said. “A lot of danger went into this by him breaking into different apartments and hiding like he did but fortunately a K9 from Bainbridge was able to find him and then our teams were able to arrest him.”
Elliott said it is not uncommon for wanted suspects to go to great lengths to evade law enforcement. However, a suspect jumping from a high-rise balcony is rather rare, he said.
“He can’t hide forever. That’s one of the things we’re very good at is catching up with you.” Elliott said.
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