Flower Mound police spent several hours Thursday searching an area near Bakersfield Park for convicted sex offender and escapee Alberto Morales.
Acting on a tip from a passing motorist who saw someone that looked like Morales around 12:30 p.m., Flower Mound police called in extra officers, the SWAT team and a DPS helicopter to aid in the search that centered on the greenbelt area between Gerault Park and Bakersfield Park near Spinks Road.
Assistant Police Chief Wendell Mitchell said that at one point up to 40 officers were involved in the search.
Officers did find the spot where the motorist thought they saw Morales and found footprints, but could not identify them.
The search was called off around 5:30 p.m. Around that time, Grapevine Police began conducting house to house searches in their city.
Mitchell said that no schools were placed on lockdown during the search.
Morales, 42, has been on the lam since Monday night after stabbing a Miami detective in a Grapevine Walmart parking lot while being transferred across the country. His rap sheet includes kidnapping with a weapon, aggravated battery and sexual battery with a deadly weapon.
Police said that Morales is extremely dangerous and area residents should call 911 immediately if they see anything suspicious or anyone matching his description.
Morales is listed in the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Top Ten Most Wanted list. A $12,500 reward is in place for any information that leads to his capture by calling 817-410-3617 or 817-410-8127.
Much of the information in this article courtesy of The Lewisville Texan Journal.
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