ROSEVILLE, Calif. — A homeowner and a dog led to the capture of a runaway suspect in a deadly Roseville hostage shooting, the Placer County Sheriff's Office said Monday.
Deputies said Eric Abril was on the run after escaping custody at a Roseville hospital. While the circumstances of his escape are still under investigation, Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said Abril managed to "defeat some of his restraints."
Law enforcement from around the region aided in the manhunt as police followed up on about 60 tips regarding the search for Abril. However, many of those didn't turn out to be credible sightings.
"As we investigated all those leads, everything led back to the only credible sighting was back at Rainier Court at about 4 a.m. the day of the escape. All signs pointed to that was truly his location last seen," said Woo.
Deputies and other law enforcement teams surrounded the greenbelt area behind Rainier Court and the Antelope Creek area for the search. But it was a man and his dog that made the difference.
"As they push towards Zion Court, an alert homeowner who was taking his dog out, the dog started barking. He saw somebody moving in that greenbelt area, and in fact, it was Abril," said Woo.
Bill Sanchez says he spotted Abril when he stepped out onto his deck.
"I walked out to take the dog to go out to go poop, and I looked over the edge right here at the creek," said Sanchez. "I do it five times a day, and there wasn't an orange jumpsuit two hours ago and there was an orange jumpsuit lying right there on the ground."
He said he heard some splashing in the water and called police, who arrived in minutes.
"There was probably... over 20 guys with guns drawn, standing right here on this deck, looking over this fence at the time," said Sanchez. "They didn't want me standing next to him."
Abril was taken into custody not long afterward.
"Placer County's relieved now, so it's a big deal. He could have maybe hijacked a car and then been in LA by now. Nobody knew where he was. We're just lucky they were able to get him," said Sanchez.
