SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FL (WTAQ) – For the third time, John Wesley Saatio managed to escape from police custody.
And for the third time, Saatio has been recaptured.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office says Saatio escaped from a private inmate transportation van Saturday evening in Florida.
According to employees with the transportation company, they had stopped at a rest stop for a bathroom break. When they took a head count, one person was missing. Employees told deputies they found shackles and handcuffs near the restroom.
WEAR-TV reports that around 7 p.m. Sunday, a witness called the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department saying they saw a suspicious person walking in a wooded area. Based upon the description provided, cops believed it was Saatio.
Authorities arrived and later deployed a K-9 unit. Law enforcement located Saatio about 4 hours after the search began and apprehended him without incident.
When Saatio was searched authorities found two makeshift handcuff keys in his socks. He was taken to the Santa Rosa County Jail where he remains under close watch. Charges will include escape and possession of a handcuff key. Additional charges are pending at this time.
Saatio initially escaped from the Houghton County Jail in Upper Michigan on June 19, 2015 while being returned from a court hearing. The registered sex offender is charged with home invasion, destruction of police property and a probation violation.
Saatio was spotted in Green Bay the next day, along with a possible sighting near Suamico. He was apprehended earlier this summer in Costa Rica, but managed to escape from an immigration detention center for 48 hours before being recaptured.
