Luxor bomber was headed to Mexico when he was arrested in Las Vegas
By: Convicted murderer Porfirio Duarte-Herrera was attempting to flee the country when he was arrested Wednesday evening, five days after his escape from a Nevada prison where he was serving a life sentence for a deadly 2007 bombing on the Las Vegas Strip.
Las Vegas police officers closed in on Duarte-Herrera, 42, around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the downtown area as he was boarding a bus scheduled to leave at 10 p.m. for Tijuana, law enforcement authorities announced Thursday at a joint news conference.
The highly publicized manhunt drew assistance from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI.
Standing alongside Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo and Special Agent in Charge Spencer Evans on Thursday, Nevada U.S. Marshal Gary Schofield told reporters that a bus station worker recognized the convicted bomb-maker and called 911.
The bus worker is expected to receive at least $25,000 that had been offered to the public by federal authorities for information about Duarte-Herrera's whereabouts, Schofield said.
"This is a case that ultimately ended well," Lombardo said, "even though the fugitive had a four-day head start after escaping."
Duarte-Herrera escaped Friday night from the Southern Desert Correctional Center, a medium-security facility surrounded by open desert northwest of Las Vegas. But prison officials didn't realize he was missing until a 7 a.m. headcount on Tuesday.
In police body-cam footage released Thursday, Duarte-Herrera is seen wearing new clothing and carrying a backpack as he waited to board a white shuttle bus.
"You know why we got you, right?" an officer asks Duarte-Herrera, who is handcuffed and placed in front of the hood of a patrol vehicle.
Duarte-Herrera nods, and quietly, he says, "Yeah."
Authorities said Thursday they were still investigating how he broke out of the prison and how he ended up in Las Vegas with money to purchase new clothes and the bus ticket.
According to police Capt. Brandon Clarkson, security cameras placed Duarte-Herrera in east Las Vegas, where he was dropped off around 7 p.m. Monday.
Gov. Steve Sisolak has ordered the Nevada Department of Corrections to conduct an investigation into the escape, calling the lapse in security unacceptable.
"I implore him to make sure that does happen," said Lombardo, who is running in November as a Republican candidate to unseat Sisolak.
Lombardo said NDOC officials were invited to participate in the Thursday news conference but did not attend. The agency has not provided further information about Duarte-Herrera's escape, including why it took days before prison officials realized he was missing.
Duarte-Herrera was being held Thursday at a downtown Las Vegas jail, records show.
He and his accomplice, Omar Rueda-Denvers, were convicted of first-degree murder by a Clark County jury in September 2009 for the explosion at the Luxor hotel-casino.
Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio, a casino hot dog stand worker who was dating Rueda-Denvers' ex-girlfriend, was killed.